SALINA — An Ohio company will be the new owner of Young & Franklin Inc. (YF) and its subsidiaries, including Tactair Fluid Controls Inc., before the end of the year.

Cleveland, Ohio–based TransDigm Group Inc. (NYSE: TDG) on Sept. 6 announced that it’s acquiring the companies for $260 million. The acquisition price includes about $73 million of tax benefits for TransDigm over a 15-year period, the firm said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

TransDigm expects to finance the acquisition “through existing cash on hand,” according to the filing.

Founded in 1918 as Young & Franklin Tool Works, Inc., Young & Franklin designs, manufactures, and services turbine controls for the energy and oil & gas markets, according to its website. The company operates at 942 Old Liverpool Road in the town of Salina.

Its subsidiary, Tactair Fluid Controls, a designer and manufacturer of hydraulic and pneumatic controls for the aerospace industry, operates at 4806 W. Taft Road in Clay.

Together, Young & Franklin and Tactair have 350 employees, according to the Tactair website.

TransDigm Group, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, says it is a designer, producer, and supplier of engineered aircraft components for use on “nearly all” commercial and military aircraft in service today.

TransDigm expects the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, to close in the fourth quarter.

Neither the news release nor the Ohio firm’s SEC filing indicate what, if any, plans TransDigm has for the Salina and Clay locations it will acquire.

“Both Tactair and Young & Franklin are long standing manufacturers of proprietary products with established positions, strong aftermarket content and an outstanding reputation based on product excellence. The highly engineered products will allow us to expand our content on a number of substantial platforms. The company fits well with our consistent product and acquisition strategy. As with all TransDigm acquisitions, we see opportunities for significant value creation,” W. Nicholas Howley, chairman, president and CEO of TransDigm, said in the firm’s release.

TransDigm expects Young & Franklin to generate revenue of about $75 million in 2016, with aftermarket sales comprising about 70 percent of that.

The local firm generates “nearly” all its revenue from proprietary products and about 70 percent of the revenue results from sales that are “aerospace related,” according to the TransDigm news release. The balance is sold to the industrial gas-turbine market.

The Ohio firm reported net income of $140.6 million, or $2.52 per share, during its fiscal third quarter that ended July 2. That’s up 42 percent from $99 million, or $1.75 per share, in the same quarter in 2015.

TransDigm generated more than $797 million in revenue in its fiscal third quarter, up 15 percent from $691 million in the year-earlier period.

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LOWVILLE — The New York State Department of Labor has announced that up to $125,000 of discretionary employment and training funding has been awarded to the Jefferson-Lewis Local Workforce Development Board.

This award will further assist workers affected by this spring’s plant shutdown at Climax Manufacturing Co. in Lowville, according to a Department of Labor news release.

Climax, which produced retail and food boxes, went out of business in early April, eliminating nearly 160 jobs.

“We never want to see a business shut its doors. It’s important for workers to know that when closings do happen, the Department of Labor will assist them wherever and however possible,” State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said in the release.

Upon receiving notice of the Climax Manufacturing closing, the department said it dispatched rapid response team members to assist employees during their time of transition. Employees received career planning and job-placement services, and were connected with training providers, when necessary.

The $125,000 in additional funding will ensure that workers in need of retraining are connected to the services they require, the department contended.

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Despite a small measure of improvement, declines in new orders, shipments, unfilled orders, and inventories dragged down New York’s manufacturing activity in September.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index inched up 2 points but remained below zero at -2.0 in September.

The results of the September survey indicate that business activity “edged lower” for New York manufacturers, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its news release issued Sept. 15.

A negative reading shows a decline in manufacturing activity, while a positive number on the index indicates expansion or growth in the sector.

The September index level was slightly worse than economists expected. Those surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expected a reading of -1.0, while MarketWatch reported that economists expected the index to land at -0.5.

The Empire State survey found 22 percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month, while 24 percent said that conditions had worsened.

Inside the report
The new-orders index fell 8 points to -7.5, indicating that orders dropped, and the shipments index tumbled 18 points to -9.4, pointing to a “pronounced” reduction in shipments, the New York Fed said.

The unfilled-orders index slipped to -11.6. The delivery-time index fell to -6.3, signaling shorter delivery times.

The inventories index moved down 8 points to -12.5, indicating that inventory levels “declined at a faster pace” than in August.

The employment index fell 13 points to -14.3, indicating that employment levels contracted.

The average-workweek index posted a similar decline, falling 14 points to -11.6, a sign of “retrenchment” in hours worked, the New York Fed said.

Both of these indexes reached their lowest levels of 2016, it added.

The prices-paid index was little changed at 17.0, indicating that input prices continued to rise at a “moderate” pace, and the prices-received index held steady at 1.8, signaling that selling prices edged slightly higher.

Indexes for the six-month outlook suggested that respondents were more optimistic about future conditions than they were last month.

The index for future business conditions climbed 11 points to 34.5.

The index for future new orders advanced to a similar level, while the index for future shipments, though positive, declined.

The index for future employment moved up into positive territory, suggesting that firms expected to expand employment in the months ahead.

Indexes for future prices rose considerably, suggesting that firms expected both input prices and selling prices to increase “more significantly” over the next six months.

The capital-expenditures and technology-spending indexes both climbed to 10.7.

The New York Fed distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey on the first day of each month to the same pool of about 200 manufacturing executives in New York. On average, about 100 executives return responses.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com