![Graco CEO Patrick McHale on the process pump assembly floor of the northeast Minneapolis manufacturer of industrial spray painters and other fluid-handling equipment Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, in Minneapolis, MN.] DAVID JOLES*djoles@startribune.com - Graco CEO Patrick McHale started out 22 years ago as a machinist supervisor and now heads the northeast Minneapolis company. Graco manufactures mostly in the U.S. and exports more than 50 percent of its products overseas, reversing the trend of the las](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/NHVZ47XSKPZUJXW3TQJKHVNWIU.jpg?&w=1080)
Industrial pump and spray maker Graco Inc. rang in the New Year with four acquisitions worth $185 million, the company said Friday.
In the largest of the deals, High Pressure Equipment of Erie, Pa., is being purchased for $160 million.
That deal will give Minneapolis-based Graco a manufacturer of valves and other equipment used by oil and gas companies and factories. The High Pressure purchase, which includes an engineering facility in England, will be completed during the first quarter.
Graco also said it will close this month on the purchase of a Utah-based pump maker called White Knight Fluid Handling. And Graco said earlier this week it completed buying Ontario-based GeoBlaster Equipment Sales & Services Inc. and Brazil-based Multimaq-Pistolas e Equipamentos Para Pintura Ltda.
GeoBlaster makes wet-abrasive blasting equipment used to remove paint and prepare surfaces for treatment. Multimaq makes finishing products for the metal, wood and leather industries.
Graco CEO Patrick McHale said in a statement that the four additions "support our strategic growth plans to expand into new markets and geographies, while diversifying our portfolio of precision products for critical applications."
The acquisitions are expected to collectively add 13 to 15 cents a share to earnings in 2015, which analysts had earlier forecast to be about $3.95 a share. That estimate excludes special charges but includes input from Alco Valves, the English-based valves maker that Graco bought for $116 million in October.
The four acquisitions announced Friday come just three months after Graco was formally ordered by the U.S. government to sell the liquid coatings division of Illinois Tool Works that it acquired in 2012. In October, Graco said it would sell the unit to the Carlisle Companies for $590 million. That price will give it a profit of $168 million when the deal closes in March 2015.
