Precision Castparts Corp.

Overview

type	Subsidiary
foundation	April 1, 1953 in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
location city	Portland, Oregon
location country	U.S.
key people	Mark Donegan (Chairman & CEO)
industry	Aerospace and Defense
products	Investment castings, forged products, fasteners
revenue	US$9.6 billion (FY 2014) ‡R1R‡
operating income	US$2.6 billion (FY 2014) ‡R1R‡
net income	US$1.7 billion (FY 2014) ‡R1R‡
assets	US$18.5 billion (FY 2014) ‡R1R‡
equity	US$11.4 billion (FY 2014) ‡R1R‡
owner	Berkshire Hathaway (since 2016)
num employees	30,100 (March 2015)
divisions	PCC Airfoils, PCC Structurals, PCC Energy Group, PCC Fasteners, PCC Aerostructures
subsid	Wyman-Gordon, Special Metals Corporation, Titanium Metals Corporation, Texas Honing Inc.
homepage	http://www.precast.com

Precision Castparts Corp. is an American industrial goods and metal fabrication company that manufactures investment castings, forged components, and airfoil castings for use in the aerospace, industrial gas turbine, and defense industries. In 2009 it ranked 362nd on the Fortune 500 list, and 11th in the aerospace and defense industry.[2] In 2015 it ranked 322nd overall and 9th in the aerospace and defense industry.[3] In 2014 it ranked 133rd on the S&P 500 based on market capitalization.[4] In January 2016, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.[5][6] Before that event, it used to be one of the three Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Oregon.

History

20th century

Precision Castparts (PCC) was founded by Joseph Buford Cox on April 1, 1953.[7] Cox was owner of Oregon Saw Chain and in 1949 had started a casting operation to make saw teeth with assistant general manager Ed Cooley also working on the project. In 1953 Cox separated the two companies and PCC was formed, moving into a new larger facility in 1955, and incorporating the following year with Ed Cooley as one of the owners.[7]

Early 2000s

In 2002, Mark Donegan became President and CEO. SPS Technologies (formerly Standard Pressed Steel) was acquired in 2003.[8] The company received tax breaks from local governments in the Portland metro area in 2006 in exchange for a plant expansion.[9] In 2007, the company purchased Cherry Aerospace to expand their fastener business.[10] After ranking as the 568th largest U.S. company by Fortune in 2007,[11] the company became a Fortune 500 the next year when it ranked 444, and rose to 362 in 2009.[2] It ranked 322 prior to its sale to Berkshire in 2016.

PCC announced the purchase of Carlton Forge Works in October 2009 for $850 million and Primus International Inc. in July 2011 in a $900 million deal. Primus made parts for airplanes, selling their products to both Airbus and Boeing.[12] In May 2012 PCC acquired Centra Industries Inc. a builder of aircraft parts for Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Spirit AeroSystems, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Bombardier. They have two plants based in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.[13] Texas Honing was purchased by PCC in October 2012,[14] followed by the $2.9 billion acquisition of

In May 2011, toxic chemicals such as nitrogen dioxide and hydrochloric acid were unexpectedly released at the company's titanium plant on Johnson Creek Blvd, Portland, Oregon.[16] Although four people were hospitalized, nobody was permanently injured from the fumes. Firefighters had difficulty shutting down the plant.[17]

The Toxic 100 Air polluters index from the University of Massachusetts listed Precision Castparts as the number one air polluter in the U.S. in the August 2013 edition,[18] although the company called it a flawed study.[19]

Berkshire Hathaway era

On August 10, 2015, the boards of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Precision Castparts Corp. unanimously approved a definitive agreement for Berkshire Hathaway to acquire, for $235 per share in cash, all outstanding PCC shares, for a total sum of $37 billion including assumed debt.[20] The sale was finalized on January 29, 2016, on which date Berkshire Hathaway took ownership of Precision Castparts.[5]

In 2021, Berkshire Hathaway took an almost $11 billion writedown on the investment.[21]

Precision Castparts Corp.

History

20th century

Early 2000s

Berkshire Hathaway era

2025 SPS Technologies fire

Context

Incident

Impact

Cause

Financials

Products

See also

References