Sauer-Danfoss (formerly Sauer-Sundstrand and Danfoss Fluid Power until 2000) designs, manufactures, and markets engineered hydraulic and electronic systems and components for use primarily in applications of mobile equipment. The product range serves markets such as agriculture, construction, road building, material handling, municipal, forestry, turf care, and many others. Sauer-Danfoss has sales, manufacturing, and engineering capabilities in Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific region.

With its headquarters located in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Sauer-Danfoss Inc. is a global leader in the manufacture of components and integrated hydraulic systems used in agricultural, construction, material handling, turf care, and road building equipment. Customers are original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), who rely on Sauer-Danfoss products to supply the necessary hydraulics to propel their equipment, transmitting power from the vehicle's engine to the wheels or tracks; to transmit power from the vehicle's engine to perform a work function; to provide an electronic control function that makes equipment much easier to use; or to supply an integrated system to govern a vehicle's propel and control function, as well as such functions as fuel management, cooling, braking, and steering. Sauer-Danfoss offers seven product lines. Hydrostatic transmissions propel a range of vehicles, from low- and medium-powered vehicles such as aerial lifts, skid steer loaders, and industrial forklift trucks, to high-powered vehicles such as combines, rollers, and forestry machinery. Open circuit products, which include gear units and axial piston pumps, perform the work function on forklifts, trucks, tractors, and road rollers. The company's orbital motors are low-speed hydraulic motors designed for moderate to heavy loads. Sauer-Danfoss also offers three categories of valves: proportional valves, directional control valves, and hydraulic integrated circuit and cartridge valves. The company offers a wide range of steering solutions for vehicles of all sizes, whether it be a normal steering wheel, a joystick, or an automatic steering mechanism controlled by sensor. Sauer-Danfoss's mobile electronic components and systems products provide advanced control systems for off-road as well as on-highway vehicles. Finally, Sauer-Danfoss's electric drives meet a wide range of needs in the forklift truck industry. Employing more than 7,000 people, Sauer-Danfoss operates 21 factories in North America, Europe, and East Asia.

Sauer-Danfoss Inc. is engaged in developing, manufacturing and markets advanced systems for the distribution and control of power in mobile equipment. The Company designs, manufactures and markets hydraulic, electronic, electric and mechanical components, as well as software and integrated systems that generate, transmit and control power in mobile equipment. Sauer-Danfoss Inc. reports its operating segments based on its product lines of Propel, Work Function and Controls. Propel products include hydrostatic transmissions and related products that transmit the power from the engine to the wheel to propel a vehicle. Work Function products include steering motors, as well as gear pumps and motors that transmit power for the work functions of the vehicle. Products in the Controls segment include electrohydraulic controls, microprocessors, electric drives and valves that control and direct the power of a vehicle. During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company completed the sale of its alternating current (AC) electric motor business.
Principal products are hydrostatic transmissions, gear pumps and motors, orbital motors, hydrostatic steering units, proportional load-sensing valves, microprocessor controls, electric drives and electrohydraulics. Sauer-Danfoss Inc. sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of engineered, off-road vehicles who use its products to provide the hydraulic and electronic power for the propel, work and control functions of their vehicles. The Company's products are sold to the agriculture, construction, road building, turf care, material handling and specialty vehicle markets. The Company conducts its business globally under the Sauer-Danfoss name.
Propel Segment
The Company designs, manufactures and markets a range of closed circuit axial and bent axis piston hydrostatic transmissions for the propulsion of mobile equipment in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific region. High-power and medium-power applications for hydrostatic transmissions manufactured by the Company include construction, road building, specialty and agricultural mobile equipment. Light-power and bantam-power applications for hydrostatic transmissions manufactured by the Company include light agricultural and turf care mobile equipment. Sauer-Danfoss Inc. manufactures these hydrostatic transmissions at its facilities in Ames, Iowa; Sullivan, Illinois; Princeton, Kentucky; Freeport, Illinois; Neumunster, Germany; Dubnica nad Vahom, Slovakia; Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia; Shanghai, China, and Osaka, Japan.
Sauer-Danfoss Inc. designs, manufactures and markets open circuit piston pumps used to transform mechanical power from the engine to hydraulic power for the various functions of the vehicle. These products are designed and manufactured at facilities in Ames, Iowa and Dubnica nad Vahom, Slovakia.
Work Function Segment
Sauer-Danfoss Inc. designs, manufactures and markets a range of high-performance standard gear pumps and motors. The Company manufactures gear pumps and motors at its Lawrence, Kansas; Bologna, Italy, and Povazska Bystrica, Slovakia facilities. It designs, manufactures and markets a line of geroller and gerotor motors used for both propel and work functions in all served markets. These motors are manufactured at the Company's Lawrence, Kansas and Nordborg, Denmark facilities. The Company designs, manufactures and markets hydrostatic steering units to customers worldwide. The Company manufactures steering units in Nordborg, Denmark; Kolding, Denmark; Wroclaw, Poland, and Pune, India.
Controls Segment
Sauer-Danfoss Inc. designs, manufactures and markets a portfolio of electronic controls, including microprocessor-based controllers (both generic type to control any mobile machinery and specialized to control speed variability of alternating current electric motors), intelligent displays, joysticks and electronic sensors through its electronic and mechatronic operations in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Almhult, Sweden; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Neumunster, Germany, and Nordborg, Denmark. The software to integrate all these components into systems is also developed by it and licensed to customers to let them develop their own solutions in a graphical environment. Electronic controls and software are used by OEMs to network hydrostatic transmissions and work function hydraulics of mobile equipment.
Sauer-Danfoss Inc. designs, manufactures and markets a variety of spool type control valves to meet its customers' needs, ranging from electrohydraulic valves for forestry and agricultural harvesting equipment, to valves for compact utility tractors. These products are manufactured in facilities located in Caxias do Sul, Brazil; Nordborg, Denmark; Easley, South Carolina, and Pune, India. The Company also designs, manufactures and markets a line of cartridge valves and hydraulic integrated circuits in facilities located in Reggio Emilia, Italy; Hillsboro, Oregon; Easley, South Carolina, and Caxias do Sul, Brazil. Aerial lift platforms and road building equipment are users of cartridge valves.
The Company competes with Bosch Rexroth AG, Eaton Corporation, Linde AG, Parker-Hannifin Corporation, Casappa S.p.A., Haldex, Shimadzu Corporation, Eaton Corporation, White Drive Products, M+S Hydraulic, Zhenjiang Hydraulic Components Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Ognibene S.p.A., HydraForce, Sterling Hydraulics, HUSCO International, Sun Hydraulics Corporation, Integrated Hydraulics Limited, Walvoil S.p.A. and Bosch Rexroth Oil Control S.p.A.


Some acquisitions initiated in 1999 came to fruition in 2000 and would prove to have a dramatic impact on the bottom line. In January 2000 Sauer completed the $5 million acquisition of Custom Design Electronics of Sweden AB and its subsidiary NOB Electronik AB, makers of electronic control systems, displays, and related software. But a far more significant transaction would be completed in May 2000 when Sauer acquired Danfoss Fluid Power A/S from the Denmark-based Danfoss A/S in a stock swap worth $80 million that was in effect a merger of equals. It was also part of a consolidation trend that resulted in a fourth global, full-line supplier of mobile hydraulics products. Danfoss's expertise in steering and work function products nicely complemented Sauer's propel and control functions, thereby establishing the combined company as a single-source supplier, which an increasing number of customers were seeking in order to concentrate on vehicle design rather than the development of subsystems and components.
Danfoss was founded by engineer Mads Clausen in 1933 to make automatic valves for refrigeration plants. The company diversified into a wide range of products, including hydraulics and control systems. In 1998 the Mobile Hydraulics Division was spun off as a separate company, Danfoss Fluid Power. Following the merger with Sauer Inc. the resulting entity, maintaining the Sauer corporate entity, changed its name to Sauer-Danfoss Inc. Murrmann was tabbed to serve as chairman and Sauer's David Pfeifle took over as chief executive officer. Danfoss CEO Jorgen Clausen became vice-chairman and Danfoss's Erik Hansen was named chief operating officer. Within a matter of months, however, Pfeifle would be forced to step down due to coronary artery bypass surgery necessitated by the discovery of obstruction in his major arteries. Murmann once again assumed the CEO position until Pfeifle recovered.
In December 2000 Sauer-Danfoss completed a small acquisition, paying $2.3 million for Integrated Control Technologies, a U.K.-based company that produced electronic controls and related software for mobile hydraulics. Along with the purchase of Custom Design Electronics earlier in the year, Sauer-Danfoss had greatly bolstered its European electrohydraulic operations. In addition, following the Danfoss merger, the company took steps to reorganize sales and marketing operations and to establish a training program in order to help the sales force to better understand all that the combined company now had to offer to its customers. Sauer-Danfoss also was able to realize some savings by consolidating plants, sales offices, and administrative offices. As a result of acquisitions and other organizational changes in 2000, Sauer-Danfoss saw revenues grow from $534.4 million in 1999 to more than $782.5 million, and net income improve from $18.1 million to slightly less than $27 million.
Sauer-Danfoss adopted a growth strategy that was based on two-thirds internal and one-third external, through acquisitions and joint ventures. Moreover, a major aspect of Sauer-Danfoss's acquisition strategy was as much geographic as product-related, in order to have applications resources available on a regional basis. In 2001 the company completed several key transactions. Early in the year it bought Compact Controls, Inc., located in Oregon, for $36 million in cash. CCI produced cartridge valve and hydraulic integrated circuit manifolds and bolstered Sauer-Danfoss's position in valves. Another addition in 2001 was the Italian company Italdigit s.r.l., maker of electronic controls and wiring harnesses, a deal that strengthened Sauer-Danfoss's ability to offer innovative technology for machine control systems. The acquisition of Dantal Hydraulics in India and Hidrover Valvulas S.A. in Brazil offered greater geographic reach, as did joint ventures established in Japan and China. Despite difficult world economic conditions, Sauer-Danfoss emerged in a strong position, although the results for the year proved to be disappointing. While revenues improved to nearly $855.3 million, net income declined to $7.6 million.
Working against the backdrop of a troubled worldwide economy, Sauer-Danfoss enjoyed a successful 2002 on a number of levels. It continued to manage its costs and enhanced productivity while also growing the business through strategic acquisitions. With revenues growing to more than $952 million in 2002, and net income rebounding to slightly less than $14 million, Sauer-Danfoss was positioned to become a $1 billion company. It would also have to carry on without its longtime leader on a daily basis, Klaus Murmann, who at the age of 71 retired from day-to-day involvement with the company, although he retained the chairmanship.
Principal Subsidiaries: Hydro-Gear, Inc.; TSD Integrated Controls, Inc.; Danfoss Fluid Power AB; Integrated Control Technologies Ltd.
Principal Competitors: Eaton Corporation; Parker Hannifin Corporation; Robert Bosch Corporation.


OVERALL
Beta: 2.06
Market Cap (Mil.): $2,678.23
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 48.41
Annual Dividend: --
Yield (%): --
FINANCIALS
SHS Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 10.19 23.64 18.80
EPS (TTM): 206.42 -- --
ROI: 43.92 6.89 4.19
ROE: 103.94 8.73 7.33



Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1986 as Sundstrand Venture Company
Employees: 7,207
Sales: $952.3 million (2002)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: SHS
NAIC: 336399 All Other Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing

Key Dates:
1926: Sundstrand Machine Tool Company is formed.
1967: Sauer Getriebe AG is formed.
1986: Sundstrand and Sauer pool their hydraulic interests in a joint venture.
1990: Sauer buys out Sundstrand.
2000: A merger with Danfoss Fluid Power A/S results in Sauer-Danfoss Inc.

Name Age Since Current Position
Jorgen Clausen 62 2004 Chairman of the Board
Sven Ruder 54 2009 President, Chief Executive Officer, Director
Sven Murmann 44 2004 Vice Chairman of the Board
Niels Christiansen 45 Vice Chairman of the Board
Jesper Christensen 41 2009 Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Treasurer
Marc Weston 42 2010 Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
Anne Wilkinson 45 2010 Executive Vice President - Human Resources
Wolfgang Schramm 56 2007 Executive Vice President and President - Controls Division
C. Kells Hall 62 2009 Executive Vice President and President - Propel Division
Helge Jorgensen 2011 Executive Vice President, President - Work Function Division
Kenneth McCuskey 56 2000 Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, Secretary
F. Joseph Loughrey 62 2000 Director
Per Egbaek Have 54 2009 Director
William Hoover 62 2008 Director
Kim Fausing 46 2008 Director
Johannes Kirchhoff 53 1997 Independent Director
Steven Wood 53 2003 Independent Director


Address:
250 Parkway Drive, Suite 270
Lincolnshire, Illinois 60069
U.S.A.
 
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