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Leadership of Continental and WCCO Belting, Inc. gathered to announce the Wahpeton company’s acquisition by the Ohio company. From left, Steve Zenar, Conveying Solutions director of sales for the Americas, Fernando Roland, Conveying Solutions vice president for the Americas, outgoing CEO and President of WCCO Tom Shorma, Continental North American Region CEO Jim Hill and Jessica Belback, head of human relations for ContiTech U.S. and Canada Continental.
Leadership of Continental and WCCO Belting, Inc. gathered to announce the Wahpeton company’s acquisition by the Ohio company. From left, Steve Zenar, Conveying Solutions director of sales for the Americas, Fernando Roland, Conveying Solutions vice president for the Americas, outgoing CEO and President of WCCO Tom Shorma, Continental North American Region CEO Jim Hill and Jessica Belback, head of human relations for ContiTech U.S. and Canada Continental.
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WCCO Belting, Inc., the continuation of a nearly 70-year family-owned business that began with Edward Shorma of Wahpeton, has been acquired by the 151-year-old technology company Continental of Fairlawn, Ohio.
The acquisition gives Continental a complement for its conveyor belting customer portfolio, the company stated Tuesday, July 5. Additionally, the acquisition was described by Continental as a way to strengthen its Conveying Solutions business in the agriculture industry and benefit stakeholders including equipment manufacturers, distributors, dealers and farmers.
A combined product and service portfolio will generate a full multi-tier offering and enable better support and service, Continental stated Tuesday. Both Continental and WCCO have agreed not to disclose the terms of the transaction, the former stated.
“Two years ago, I served notice to the board of directors and shareholders that I wanted to retire at the end of 2022,” WCCO CEO and President Tom Shorma said. “That started the discussions on succession and what we were going to do. My intentions are still to retire at the end of 2022.”
For the next few months, Shorma said, he will serve WCCO as an advisor. Continental leadership, meanwhile, anticipate a successful integration.
“This strategic acquisition is a threefold perfect fit: portfolio, sales market and people,” said Philip Nelles, a member of Continental’s executive board and the head of the ContiTech Group Sector. “Moreover, we continue our transformation towards being a holistic solutions provider in one of the growing industries, namely the off-highway industry.”
Continental will retain 100 percent of WCCO’s workforce, Shorma said.
“Frankly, their interest in WCCO really begins with the acquisition of talent even more so than it is equipment and capacity,” Shorma said.
Equipment can be bought, Shorma said. An intimate knowledge of the agriculture industry comes from people, like the employees of WCCO.
“It’s going to create tremendous opportunities for the team, the next generation at WCCO Belting that simply, they would not have had if we would have kept the status quo. This creates huge opportunities for our people to advance their careers and income to help, overall, the organization versus just WCCO,” Shorma said.
Continental’s focus on growing the agriculture industry is fueled by many factors, the company stated. They include a “mega-trend in global population growth, protein demand and climate change-induced crop pressure.”
“(We expect) that global demand for food and feed will continue to rise and change in the coming decades,” Continental stated. “With three-fourths of WCCO’s business in the agriculture industry, the acquisition underlines the company’s commitment.”
WCCO’s product portfolio has a strong market position, serves a complementary customer base and enjoys a favorable global reputation, according to Continental.
“We are all delighted to welcome you, the experienced and dedicated WCCO employees, to our Continental team,” said Jim Hill, head of ContiTech Group Sector’s North American business. “I am convinced that we will learn from each other and grow together to best serve our customers’ needs. We both, Continental and WCCO, are striving for excellence and focus on a customer-centric approach which unites us.”
Continental will become known in the Twin Towns Area, Shorma said.
“They’re active, particularly where they are based. I think you’re going to see them be very visible, especially as things move forward with the new leadership,” Shorma said.
WCCO Belting has more than 300 employees as of Tuesday. The company, which distributes to more than 20 countries, manufactures and distributes farm machinery applications including draper belts, baler belts, pickup belts, tube conveyor belts and merger belts.
“We perfectly fit to Continental as we share the same passion for our industries,” Shorma said. “Everything we do is to better support our current and prospective customers’ needs based on our longstanding experience and with our team’s dedication contributing to the process of creating custom rubber products that impact businesses across the world.”
Continental, which employs more than 190,000 people in 58 countries, was founded in 1871. Calling intelligent agriculture “the nutrient for the field of the future,” Continental is known for “safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation.”
“We have always said, as a shareholder group and as a family, that we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to take care of and protect those that helped us be successful,” Shorma said.
Shorma said he believes Continental is the type of company that can do anything it wants in terms of advancing WCCO’s current organization and creating opportunities for employees.
“The people that have helped us be successful were directly taken into consideration of the decision that we made to partner with Conti,” Shorma said.
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