Houghton, which is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, specializes in the repair and remanufacturing of electric motors, generators and pump systems, and of electric coils for electric motors, generators, and alternators for customers in the rail, power generation, industrial, water/wastewater, and mining industries.
With the acquisition, IPS enters new markets in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. IPS now has a 51-location service center network spanning the US, Canada, and now the UK and Europe.
Houghton was founded in 1984 by Ron and Christine Mitten. Since 2006, Michael Mitten has operated as Houghton’s CEO and has led Houghton into a services expansion, resulting in a quadrupling of sales and a tripling of the employee base expanding served markets into Europe and the Middle East.
As an aftermarket provider of operating and maintenance services for renewable power generation customers in the US and Canada, IPS will now be able to build on and expand Houghton’s wind market asset lifecycle services with IPS’s technologies in power management, generator repair, pitch, and yaw systems. IPS will now look to bring its repair, distribution, and field service offerings to new customers in the on and offshore markets in the UK and Europe.
“After 40 years of family ownership, I am thrilled to hand over the responsibility for future growth to IPS,” said Michael Mitten, CEO of Houghton. “As part of the transaction, I have invested in IPS, ensuring my continued involvement with the business. I look forward to collaborating with the IPS team to build a European network of electromechanical service and power management companies.”
“The acquisition of Houghton International not only brings a well-respected, customer-focused company into IPS, it also marks a milestone in our company’s growth by expanding beyond the US and Canada into new markets in the UK, Europe and the Middle East,” said John Zuleger, IPS president and CEO. “We look forward to discussing our new capabilities brought by Houghton to our current North American partners and customers who have operations that span these new markets now serviced by IPS.”
