Schaefer Ventilation buys Cold Spring’s Metal Fab

Published December 19, 2011 | By admin

SAUK RAPIDS — Schaefer Ventilation Equipment announced Friday it has acquired the assets of Metal Fab of Cold Spring Inc. in a deal that went into effect Wednesday.

Schaefer designs, manufactures and markets large fans and other ventilation equipment to agricultural, industrial and commercial customers in the U.S. and abroad.

Metal Fab is a maker of metal parts and longtime supplier to Schaefer and other local companies.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Calls to Schaefer were not immediately returned.

The Metal Fab equipment will be moved from the Cold Spring building, 17015 Stearns County Road 158, to Schaefer’s facility in Sauk Rapids early next year.

“We’ve got to sell the building (in Cold Spring) first,” Metal Fab President Dennis Meyer said. “As soon as we can, we’ll move into a 17,000-square-foot portion of the Schaefer building that’s being leased to a truck driving school.”

Meyer said combining with Schaefer will make both operations more efficient.

“We’ve been in business for 21 years,” said Meyer, who founded Metal Fab. “We’ve been doing business with Schaefer for 18 of those and they make up a lot of what we do. We’re still working everything out, but I believe everything we’ll be doing from here is going to be (products) for Schaefer.”

Metal Fab has about seven employees, all of whom are expected to move with the operation, Meyer said.

He added that the hope is there will be more jobs as a result of the merger.

“We look forward to having the extensive metal fabrication skills and capabilities of Metal Fab inside Schaefer,” Schaefer Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Carl Guggenberger said in a statement. “These capabilities will allow us to compete more aggressively with other domestic and foreign fan suppliers.”

For more information, visit www.schaeferfan. com or www.metalfabcs.com.

Article source: http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111217/BUSINESS/112160036/Schaefer-Ventilation-buys-Cold-Spring-s-Metal-Fab