Auburn, Wash.—JET Equipment & Tools' acquisition of Wilton Corp. combines two woodworking and metalworking giants and also merges the Wilton Tool Group with HTII, a private-label manufacturer of hand and power tools and accessories.

As part of the deal announced in April, the Wilton Machinery Division became an autonomous business within the JET Group. The group also consists of JET Equipment & Tools, Performax Products, and the Powermatic Corp. Wilton Machinery will continue to be located in Palatine, Ill., and president Ernie Torkilsen will report to JET CEO Robert Skummer.

In addition, Wilton Tool Group merged with Illinois-based HTII, a little-known manufacturer that sells to large retailers like Sears, Canadian Tire and distributors like W.W. Grainger. The new company, called Wilton Tool Co., also based in Palatine, Ill., is led by CEO Dennis Jacobson, formerly HTII's CEO.

The moves may be a forerunner to more consolidation as the hand and power tools company will seek out other firms, executives said.

Another result of the acquisition is that JET expects to sell Wilton's Anderson Products abrasives business to Weiler Corp. The firms signed a letter of intent earlier this spring and CEO Karl Weiler said the deal was expected to close in early June.

JET is owned by Swiss-based global manufacturer WMH. Wilton has been a family-run business since 1941, when it began designing and manufacturing vises, and grew into a highly respected tools and metalworking equipment manufacturer. Wilton's three main businesses are its Machinery Division, Anderson Products and Wilton Tool Group. No terms of the deal were disclosed.

Jacobson said the new Wilton Tool Co. would continue to import directly from Asia as HTII did and also sell through established trademarks like Wilton's Columbian and Brink & Cotton clamps and vises. HTII has no warehousing or inventory of its own, and sells Spectra tools in addition to private label ones.

"I believe it's fair to say we'll have the broadest range of products of anyone in the industry" for hand tools, power tools and power tool accessories," said Jacobson. "With our [newly adopted] trademarks and cost levels, we should be a pretty powerful force in the market."

ASMMA President David Thompson said the way in which the new companies are being organized demonstrates the continued importance of brand names in the industry. "It probably says something about how strong the Wilton brands were, that all their units were able to find a place to be," he said.

As for JET's acquisition of Wilton's metalworking business, David Loving, vice president of sales and marketing at JET, said distributors and end users won't see dramatic changes.

"There's no change in distribution or in the way we go to market," said Loving. "The short term benefits will be intangible to the distributors. They may see a little better cost, more consistent availability ... but the Wilton Machinery business will stay pretty much business as usual."

Torkilsen said Wilton will continue to service customers as in the past. "I think long term it will help us to better serve our distributors and end users since we can build on the strength of both companies. We're very strong in the drilling and sawing markets ... they're very strong in milling and turning. It was a good acquisition for JET."

The deal follows two other major moves by JET. The firm bought Powermatic, which manufacturers lathes, drill presses, saws and other equipment, last October, and bought drum and brush sander manufacturer Performax in February of 2000.