Laron Joins OTC

Second Arizona outfit in as many months acquired by growing service provider

Ohio Transmission Corporation, the industrial equipment service provider and distributor headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, has acquired Laron Inc., a leading service provider of mechanical and electric motor repair and engineering in the southwestern U.S., the companies announced January 21.

Laron’s headquarters in Kingman, Arizona, houses more than 140,000 square feet of shop space, with large-scale machining, fabrication and repair capabilities. Laron also has repair facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, and Salt Lake City, Utah, and it has a sales and field service office in Tucson, Arizona. Its Kingman base in northwest Arizona is within arm’s reach of the Las Vegas market.

This is the second Arizona acquisition OTP has made within a few weeks. EA readers from both companies will recall a third—Keller Electrical of Tucson—that was also purchased by OTP in December. That particular company, founded in June 1982, specializes in electric motor repair, custom electrical controls, fabrication, engineering and equipment field service, installation and maintenance, giving the OTC acquisitions a distinct linkage.

Laron Inc.’s Kingman, Arizona facility includes a sprawling 30,000 warehouse in the desert between Phoenix and Las Vegas, seen here from a bird’s eye view.—Laron photo

“Laron was founded in 1975 and has established a reputation over the past 45 years as a leader in its respective markets,” said Philip Derrow, President and CEO of Ohio Transmission Corporation (OTC). “The company has built on its core values of innovation, responsiveness and quality service and has recognized that its associates are the company’s greatest resources, a value that makes them a great addition to our OTC family. With this acquisition, we are humbled to provide a new home for Laron’s 190 associates.”

Since its founding, Laron has provided industrial support services, including heavy industrial automation, machining, motor repair, fabrication, field services, mechanical repair, predictive maintenance, storage and custom solutions. Its services support customers in the mining, manufacturing, power generation, gas transmission and construction industries. In the example below, Laron CEO Glenn Thoroughman—an early candidate for the 2020 Best Name list—explains automating new solutions for Copper State Rubber, the Phoenix manufacturer of industrial hoses:

“This acquisition is an important part of our rapidly evolving repair and engineering services capabilities,” said Matt Piatt, Chief Operating Officer of OTC. “Along with the recent acquisition of Keller Electrical, the addition of Laron further enhances our overall service offering and expands our regional footprint in the Southwest.”

Laron will continue to operate under the Laron brand and with current local management, including Glenn Thoroughman, CEO; Larry Tree, president; John Hansen, COO; Gary Maclay, CFO; and a strong team of general managers already in place.

Laron will operate as a division of OTP Industrial Solutions, providing Laron with access to OTP’s vast product and service offerings and resources while expanding OTP’s service offerings.

“Laron’s extensive machining and fabrication capabilities, including field machining, along with the capability for handling the largest crusher, pump and other rotating equipment repair, are complementary to OTP’s existing service shops and further enhances our overall service offering to the entire OTP customer base,” said Rob Webb, President of OTP Industrial Solutions. “They also share our commitment to be the best service provider we can be to our customers.”

“Laron has built an amazing reputation of being the company that can tackle and solve the toughest challenges of industry,” said Thoroughman. “Combining that capability with OTP’s territory and with their very diverse product lines, we see amazing new opportunities for our Laron associates and a significant improvement in our ability to add value to the service that we and OTP can provide to our customers.”

While Laron associates and customers benefit from the acquisition, the acquisition opens up new industries to OTP Industrial Solutions, Thoroughman said.

“Laron provides OTP with a foothold and visibility into a whole new dimension of industrial service and instant recognition as a “Class A” service provider for a whole range of new customers and industries,” Thoroughman said. “Laron’s Full Spectrum Industrial Field Service has the potential to be a game-changer for many of OTP’s affiliates and customers.

With this acquisition, Ohio Transmission Corporation now has 50 locations throughout the Southwest, South, Southeast, Midwest and Northeast regions, along with 25 service shops. The addition of Laron associates expands OTC’s existing workforce to more than 1,200 employees.

About Laron Incorporated

Laron Inc., founded in June 1975, is a leading service provider of mechanical and electric motor repair, fabrication, engineering, field service, installation, machining and predictive maintenance. The company’s headquarters in Kingman, Arizona, houses large-scale machining, fabrication and repair capabilities. The company has repair facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, and Salt Lake City, Utah, and it maintains a sales and field service office in Tucson, Arizona. Since its founding, the company has grown to be a leading service provider, supporting the mining, manufacturing, power generation, gas transmission and construction industries. For more information, visit: https://www.laron.com/.