IR snaps up interest in Italy's CISA

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.-Manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand has made an investment in an Italian security product manufacturer and plans to bring the foreign company's products overseas to the North American market. IR announced in December that it acquired 30 percent of CISA S.P.A., a 75-year-old maker of locks, cylinders, door closers, panic hardware and other security products. With revenues of about $180 million from its worldwide operations, CISA has about 2,500 employees and has brands that include CISA, Bricard, and CISA Corraduras. The companies will begin work on several projects, including the development of markets that use both European and American electronic access control and lock designs, according to Rodolfo Errani, CISA's chairman and president. Company officials declined to release further details of the deal, but in a written statement, Randy Smith, president of IR's Security and Safety Sector said that IR's relationship with CISA provides the company with a platform for new opportunities for growth. "Our relationship with CISA provides a platform to pursue exciting growth opportunities," Smith said. "By combining IR's product offering with CISA's products, our companies can jointly offer a complete product portfolio in the Americas and in the European and Asia-Pacific markets." Smith said the agreement between the two companies is a continuation of IR's efforts to increase its participation in the global security and safety markets. IR's new financial interest in the Italian company comes at a time when the company is watching operating costs closely and is in the midst of closing six of its 20 manufacturing plants. Company spokesman Paul Dickard said that the plant closures do not affect any of IR's Security and Safety plants. The company announced in November it was relocating its corporate headquarters to Bermuda to take advantage of tax savings that the offshore location allows. The move is expected to save the company about $40 million a year.