Who owns gardner denver

Ingersoll Rand has also appointed its three newest board members, Kirk E. Arnold , Gary D. Forsee and Tony L. White , who will commence their board service effective immediately. Stavros, Elizabeth Centoni, William P. Donnelly, John Humphrey, Marc E. Jones, Vicente Reynal and Joshua T. Gardner, started Gardner Company. The company's first product was derived from Gardner's efforts to redesign an existing product, the "fly-ball" governor, which provided speed control for steam engines.

Gardner's creation found a receptive audience among oil drillers, whose rigs and hoisting mechanisms relied on steam for power. Governors provided the means for Gardner Company to establish itself as a financially viable enterprise, serving as the company's sole source of income for its first two decades of business. Equally as important, Gardner's revamped steam-engine governors introduced the company to the industry--oil and gas production--that would provide the bulk of its customers for more than the ensuing century-and-a-half.

Gardner Company began to take on its 20th-century characteristics through diversification. The company's first foray beyond steam-engine governors occurred when Gardner again re-engineered an existing product. Seeking to find additional sources of income from the oil and gas industry upon which he relied, Gardner began tinkering with steam pumps.

Steam pumps were originally designed to provide water for pressurized boilers, but Gardner discovered the pumps could be easily converted to mud pumps, the type of pumps used in drilling for oil and natural gas.

He began making mud pumps in , which added a second product line that bolstered the company's recognition among the country's fortune-seeking explorers and drillers.

The demand for Gardner Company's mud pumps increased exponentially roughly a decade later when a major oil strike at the Spindletop Oil Field in triggered a surge in business throughout Texas. Perhaps more important than the spike in sales realized in the months after the Spindletop discovery was Gardner Company's third attempt at diversification, also completed at this time.

Concern regarding the anticipated decline in demand for steam power prompted Gardner to develop a product line that could sustain his company in a post-steam-power era. His solution was the manufacture of vertical, high-speed air compressors.

A century later, the manufacture of compressors constituted a major business area of Gardner Denver. The adoption of the Gardner Denver name occurred nearly three decades after the company began manufacturing air compressors. By this point in the company's development, Gardner's son, J. Willis Gardner, was in charge of the firm.

In , J. Willis Gardner orchestrated the merger of his father's company with its largest customer, Denver Rock Drill Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of equipment for oil wells, mining, and construction. The merger greatly broadened the scope of Gardner Company's business, creating Gardner-Denver Company.

In its new guise, the company supplied equipment for oil wells, pipeline trenching, mining, dam and tunnel projects, and highway construction.

For the next half-century, Gardner-Denver developed its diversified business interests, recording steady growth as an independent company.

The expertise and customer base developed by the company attracted the attention of a larger suitor, as celebrations marked the th anniversary of Robert Gardner's fly-ball governor. In , Cooper Industries, Inc. Founded in , Cooper Industries began as a manufacturer of power and compression equipment for the natural gas industry. By the time its path crossed with Gardner-Denver, Cooper Industries was diversifying into a number of different business areas.

Beginning in the s, the company broadened its product lines to include automotive products, electrical power equipment, tools and hardware, and petroleum and industrial equipment. On a webcast to discuss the merger Tuesday morning, Reynal touted the brands the combined entity will operate, which include Gardner Denver, vacuum solutions brand Nash, Ingersoll-Rand's fluid handling brand ARO and its electric vehicle brand Club Car, which is known for golf carts.

Reynal added that the merged entities complement each other geographically, as Gardner Denver boasts a strong European presence, where Ingersoll-Rand is weaker industrially, but Ingersoll-Rand has deeper roots in emerging markets like Asia-Pacific, where Gardner Denver is limited.

Additionally, Reynal highlighted the combined company's reinforced strength in the compression technology industry, the harmony between Gardner Denver's medical segment and Ingersoll-Rand's fluid management platform and the unique offerings each brings to the table, such as the Club Car business and Gardner Denver's involvement in oil and gas. IndustrialCo's leadership team will consist of executives from both companies, and the board will feature seven directors selected by Gardner Denver and three by Ingersoll-Rand.

We really are starting from a running point and I'm confident the teams will work well together.