Oregon parts firm to sell for $759M

Japanese transportation equipment company Toyota Industries, a sister company of automaker Toyota Motor Corp., is buying one of its suppliers: Fairview, Ore.-based parts maker Cascade Corp. in a deal valued at $759 million.

Toyota Industries Corp. will pay $65 per share for Cascade, the companies said Monday. That’s an 18 percent premium to Cascade’s Friday closing price of $55.08. The news drove up Cascade’s stock, which closed Monday at $64.97 per share.

Cascade’s website indicates the company has 1,900 employees, and it reported $63 million in net income on $535.7 million in net sales in 2011. It operates a plant in Fairview and other plants in Ohio, Georgia and Ontario, Canada.

“Our company has concluded that the offer being made by Toyota Industries Corp., one of the world’s most admired companies, represents an ideal combination of attractive return to our shareholders, continuing service to our customers, and stability and opportunity for our employees,” said Robert Warren, Cascade’s president and CEO, in a statement.

Toyota Industries makes lift trucks, automobile parts and some vehicles for Toyota Motor. Buying Cascade would help Toyota Industries expand its lift truck business, said Toyota Industries President Tetsuro Toyoda.

Both companies’ boards approved the transaction, which is targeted to close by year’s end. The company would become a Toyota Industries subsidiary, with its headquarters remaining in Fairview. Warren would continue to head its operations.

A tender offer is expected to start no later than Nov. 5.