Rochester Business Journal

Connecticut-based Kaman Corp. announced Monday its subsidiary Kaman Industrial Technologies Corp. has reached an agreement to acquire the assets of Zeller Corp., a controls and automation products distributor founded in Rochester 51 years ago.

Kaman officials said the company expects to close the deal in the third quarter. Terms of the proposed transaction were not disclosed.

Kaman conducts business in the industrial distribution and aerospace markets. The publicly traded company operates more than 200 customer service centers and five distribution centers in North America.

Along with its headquarters in Rochester, Zeller has offices in Buffalo, Syracuse, Foxboro, Mass., and Winston-Salem, N.C. The company has 240 employees, including 60 engineers. Kaman officials said Zeller expects sales in 2012 of approximately $80 million.

“The acquisition of Zeller Corp. is a very exciting addition for Kaman and our KIT distribution business extends and expands our automation and motion control product segment to include electrical controls and power distribution,” said Neal Keating, president and CEO of Kaman, in a statement. “We are also excited to welcome the strong management team and workforce at Zeller to the Kaman family.”

Henry Zeller started Zeller Corp. in 1961 as Zeller Electric, a general line electrical distributor. His son, Eric, took over the company as sole shareholder in 1986. The company expanded into Buffalo in 1990.

During the 1990s, Zeller Electric evolved with technology, integrating value-added projects while partnering its electrical engineers and technicians with its customers to develop scalable products and services in automation controls. In 1998, the company opened an office in Syracuse and formed Zeller Corp.

In 2001, Gary Haseley led a team of company officers to buy Zeller. Haseley became CEO and president.
 
Haseley said he will stay on with the company, joining KIT’s executive management team as Zeller’s vice president and general manager.

“We are very enthusiastic about the opportunity to become part of the Kaman distribution and solutions team,” said Haseley, in a statement. “We believe Zeller’s deep engineering expertise coupled with Kaman’s broad national reach will combine to create and outstanding solution for our customers, while driving growth opportunities for our suppliers.”

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