Duramax Marine acquires Morse Rubber marine assets | Rubber News

HIRAM, Ohio—Duramax Marine has acquired the assets related to the marine bearing and fender business of Morse Rubber L.L.C.

Headquartered in Hiram, Duramax Marine bought assets that were part of Morse Rubber's dock fender, marine bumpers and marine bearings offerings. All tooling, inventory and equipment previously owned by Morse will be moved to Duramax Marine facilities in Ohio, according to a news release from Duramax.

No facilities of employees were included in the transaction, which closed in November. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Duramax Marine is a manufacturer of lubricated bearing technology, with all products made in the U.S. It was founded in Middlefield, Ohio, in 1895 and operates two manufacturing facilities in the state while serving a global base of customers. Duramax Marine has been 100 percent owned by employees for the last 13 years.

Morse Rubber's marine business is the second acquisition for Duramax Marine in the marine bearing and impact protection markets, and the first in nearly 30 years. Duramax Marine purchased the marine bearing division of B.F. Goodrich in 1996, which significantly expanded its market share and product offerings.

Duramax Marine President and CEO Brian Fink said in a statement that his company will use the knowledge and expertise from Morse Rubber to help grow its business globally. "We are excited to add the Morse Rubber marine products and customers to our business," he said. "We are pleased that we can keep American-made products with a long, proud history in the USA.

"Our employee-owners look forward to providing excellent quality, service, support and value to the many Morse customers around the world," Fink added.

The recent Morse Rubber acquisition will bring additional products to Duramax's offerings in the commercial marine market. The Morse Rubber products include water-lubricated bearings for the marine and industrial markets, extruded rubber fenders, PushNee bumpers, modular fenders, molded buckling, and shear fenders, cell fenders, and arch fenders.

Duramax Marine's sales and customer service teams will begin directly contacting Morse customers immediately, according to the company statement.

Fink said he believes the new combined level of experience following the acquisition positions Duramax Marine to transition its production to its factories while helping customers with applications, engineering and commercial support.

The transition is expected to be completed by year-end 2024.

Morse Rubber is a member of the FLSmidth Group of companies after having been acquired in June 2023. FLSmidth is based in Denmark and operates as a flowsheet minerals processing supplier to the global mining industry. It employs nearly 11,000 globally and took on all Morse Rubber employees during last year's acquisition.

Morse Rubber makes and markets specialized, heavy-duty rubber products for mineral processing and products that are used in industrial, mining and agricultural applications. Based in Keokuk, Iowa, Morse Rubber operates a manufacturing facility with a full range of capabilities, ranging from large-scale molding and extruding; mixing and machining of rubber and metals; bonding rubber to metals and composites; and metal welding and fabrication.

FLSmidth said it bought Morse Rubber to take advantage of its collective knowledge in and ability to expand advanced molding capabilities for rubber and composite mill liners. FLSmidth also valued the screen media and various rubber and rubber ceramic wear components that Morse Rubber offered, the firm said at the time of the acquisition.

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