Timken sells Latrobe Steel

Bearings and alloy steelmaker, The Timken Company, has announced the completion of the $215 million sale of its Pennsylvania-based subsidiary, Latrobe Steel, to a group of investors led by Massachusetts-based Watermill Group. Latrobe Steel, which manufactures and distributes specialty steel to the aerospace and tool markets, will become a private stand-alone company once the transaction is completed, Watermill said Friday. In 2005, Latrobe Steel's sales, benefiting from the strong aerospace and specialty steels markets, reached $345 million - approximately 7 percent of Timken's overall sales that year. Latrobe Steel is one of the leading US producers of iron-based vacuum re-melted steels, high speed and tool steels, with over 840 workers in 10 locations.