Providence-based Textron Inc., the maker of Bell
Helicopters and Cessna airplanes, sold an Iowa-based business to
Eastport Operating Partners and a management group for an
undisclosed price.
The business, Energy Manufacturing and Williams Machine and
Tool, employs 170 and makes cylinders, valves, pumps and
reservoirs for the construction, waste-handling, agricultural and
truck-equipment industries, Textron said in a statement. New York-based Eastport is an investment fund that purchases U.S.-based
manufacturing companies.
Textron said the move was part of an effort to divest non-core businesses. The company has spent $389 million in the past
three years to cut 9,400 jobs, or 14 percent of its work force,
and it closed 40 factories as business-jet deliveries fell.
Shares of Textron have risen 66 percent in the past year.
Bloomberg News
