An initial cash payment of £2.5m was made on completion of the deal and this will be followed by two deferred payments of £400,000 to be paid in October 2011 and August 2012.
Hydratron had sales of £4m in the UK in the year-ended 30 April 2010. The US and Australian operations are essentially start-up businesses.
Established in 1981, Hydratron designs, manufactures and sells a range of air-operated high-pressure hydraulic pumps, gas boosters, power packs, hydraulic control panels and test rigs.
The company has sales and manufacturing companies in Altrincham in the UK, and Houston, Texas. It also has a small stockist and distribution company in Brisbane, Australia, and a spread of third-party distributors in key locations around the world. Hydratron currently employs 46 staff in the UK, five in the US and two in Australia.
As part of the agreement, the Australian subsidiary of the company will be closed. A full-time sales presence, however, will be maintained in the region to service Australia and the Pacific Rim countries with products supplied from the UK.
Poll: Should the UK’s railways be renationalised?
I _do_ remember British Rail - and that it was <i>literally</i> a national joke https://youtu.be/zV2lmSDKvO8