The BRAKE Report
  • Home
  • News
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Vehicle
    • Motorcycle/ATV
    • Motorsports
    • Rail
    • Other
  • Interviews
    • Coffee Brake
    • Leadership Spotlight
  • Technical Articles
  • Test Drives
  • Brake Careers
  • Sponsors
  • Subscribe
Saturday, April 10
  • About
  • Contact
  • Sponsorship Guide
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
The BRAKE Report
  • Home
  • News
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Vehicle
    • Motorcycle/ATV
    • Motorsports
    • Rail
    • Other
  • Interviews
    • Coffee Brake
    • Leadership Spotlight
  • Technical Articles
  • Test Drives
  • Brake Careers
  • Sponsors
  • Subscribe
The BRAKE Report
Home » Rail/Transit » Wabtec’s Hepler Jumps To MSA Safety
Rail/Transit

Wabtec’s Hepler Jumps To MSA Safety

David KileyBy David KileyMay 23, 2019No Comments2 Mins Read
WABCO
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Print

PHILADELPHIA, PA–MSA Safety Inc. has snapped up Wabtec Corp.’s director of corporate development as the Cranberry-based developer and supplier of safety products accelerates acquisitions. Christopher Hepler, responsible for the rail manufacturer’s global M&A activities since 2015, is now MSA’s executive director of corporate development.

“It’s great to have a person of Chris’ caliber on board,” Krause said. “He’s focusing on building out a pipeline for M&A and processes around that function.”

MSA (NYSE:MSA) closed its $33 million acquisition of Silicon Valley-based Sierra Monitor Corp on Monday. CEO Nishan Vartanian and Krause were in California to spend the day with the team.

“There’s a lot of excitement around the company and we have a robust integration plan we’re rolling out now,” Krause said.

The deal is the latest in a series of buys that started about six years ago.“Our strategy is built around profitable growth and that can come from organic R&D but also inorganic activities,” Krause said. “We’ve got the financial flexibility and are positioned really well to continue to grow inorganically. What Chris will do is aid those efforts.”

MSA has more than 40 international locations with manufacturing operations Europe, Asia and Latin America as well as the U.S. Revenue was $1.4 billion in 2018, about half of which came from outside North America.

The acquisition plan is focused on MSA’s core products, in the U.S. and abroad.

“What’s interesting about safety is one of the fastest growing sections is in fall protection and it’s our smallest market position,” Krause said. “We’re investing organically and have launched a lot of products, but we’re also looking inorganically.”

MSA connected with Hepler after launching an extensive search to find someone to lead the charge. Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) notched 10 transactions since early 2015.

Avatar
David Kiley
  • Website
  • LinkedIn

David Kiley is Chief of Content for The BRAKE Report. Kiley is an award-winning business journalist and author, having covered the auto industry for USA Today, Businessweek, AOL/Huffington Post, as well as written articles for Automobile and Popular Mechanics.

Related Posts

Alstom has acquired Flertex, maker of brake components for rail and industry

Flertex Brake Components Maker Acquired by Alstom

April 5, 2021
Latest tests show effectiveness of Knorr Brake Company’s 3-stage air filtration and purification system in eliminating the most challenging viruses from rail vehicles

Tests Confirm Efficacy of Knorr-Bremse Filtration System

March 30, 2021
Siemens Mobility will be testing its new Brake Monitoring System with VTG Rail Europe

Siemens Mobility Brake Monitoring System Test

March 29, 2021
Industry Partners
Official Media Partner of
About

The BRAKE Report is an online media platform dedicated to the automotive and commercial vehicle brake segments. Our mission is to provide the global brake community with the latest coverage of news & insights from around the industry.

Latest News
Bremskerl recently filed registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the company’s “Color Green as applied to the surface of brake pads for vehicles”

Bremskerl Registers “Color Green” Related to Pads

April 9, 2021
BBB Industries was recently named a 2021 Supplier of the Year by APA

APA Names BBB a 2021 Supplier of the Year

April 9, 2021
Translate:

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.