— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

Trelleborg (Trelleborg, Sweden; www.trelleborg.com) has acquired US-based CRC Distribution (Robertsdale, Alabama; www.crconline.com), a distributor of polymer seals and hydraulic components. The Swedish elastomer specialist said that with the move it plans to strengthen its market presence in North America.

“CRC serves small hydraulic cylinder original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and maintenance repair operations (MROs). Historically, we’ve used distributors to address these market needs. Now we can directly serve these hydraulic cylinder OEM and MRO customers ourselves,” said business-unit president Industrial Americas, Heather Castleman.

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According to the company, the acquisition will enable it to expand its fluid power technology offerings, particularly for the off-highway market. Since 2021, CRC has been an exclusive distributor of Trelleborg seals in the southern and western US and for Orkot brand products across North America, Trelleborg said.

The elastomer specialist, went on to say that CRC stocks hydraulic seals for mobile and industrial applications, providing engineering support for custom seals up to 2,540 mm, and offers same-day shipping from its Robertsdale facility.

The deal follows several acquisitions by Trelleborg’s sealing solutions business area in the US, including VB Seal in 2021 and both Carolina Seal and Anderson Seal in 2017, the company said.

In 2023, Trelleborg had annual sales of approximately SEK 34 bn. Active in about 40 countries, the group has three business areas – Trelleborg Industrial Solutions, Sealing Solutions, and Medical Solutions. The group currently has 15,646 employees.