EVERETT — And now the new company has a name.
Danaher Corp., based in Washington, D.C., is spinning off 22 brands, including Everett’s Fluke Corp., into a new company to be headquartered in Everett called Fortive.
Fortive will employ 20,000 people worldwide. Its subsidiaries had $6 billion in revenue in 2014, and, when combined, are big enough to land it on the annual Fortune 500 list.
The company is seeking to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
“Fortive takes its name from the Latin root ‘fort,’ meaning strong. Combined with a mark symbolizing forward momentum, growth and progress, the Fortive brand reflects the strength of our company — a company built on a foundation of success and geared for growth and out-performance,” said James A. Lico, a current Danaher executive vice president and future president and chief executive officer of Fortive, in a news release.
Fortive said that it will be a leader in professional instrumentation, automation, sensing and transportation technologies. Fluke, at 6920 Seaway Blvd., fits under that umbrella as a test- and measurement-equipment company that employs about 2,400 people worldwide.
Danaher bought Fluke Corp. in 1998. Danaher announced on May 13 that it was acquiring Pall Corp., a New York filtration and purification company, in a deal worth $13.8 billion.
On the same day, Danaher announced that it would break into two publicly traded companies, one that would retain the name Danaher and the other, a diversified industrial company that had been referred to as “NewCo.” And now “NewCo” has been shed for Fortive.
Danaher has said that it expects the separation of the two companies to be complete at the end of 2016.
Economic Alliance Snohomish County leaders, as well as Everett city and state officials, successfully recruited the new parent company to open its headquarters in Everett.
The move is expected to bring only 50 jobs to Everett, but it would be one of just 11 Fortune 500 companies based in Washington and the only one outside King County. With the revenue that it earned last year, Fortive would rank about 400 on Fortune magazine’s list of companies.
Fortive will include an team with a strong Danaher legacy and will be “committed to exceeding our customers’, shareholders’ and associates’ expectations,” Lico said.
“As a standalone company, we will pursue a strategy focused on creating value through organic growth, operating margin expansion and mergers and acquisitions,” Lico said. “Our approach to acquisitions will be strategic and financially disciplined, with the goal of building even stronger businesses with competitive leadership positions.”
Fortive’s subsidiaries are based all over the United States, although one of the companies, Hengstler, is in Aldingen, Germany. The closest subsidiary to Fluke Corp. is Tektronix in Portland. Oregon.
Other companies under the Fortive umbrella include: Gilbarco Veeder-Root; Teletrac Navman; Kollmorgen; Thomson; Dynapar; Qualitrol; Portescap; Hengstler; Gems Sensors and Controls; Anderson-Negele; Pacific Scientific; Setra; Sonix; MatcoTools; Veeder-Root; Namco; Ammco; Ventura Measurement; Jacobs Vehicle Systems; and Invetech.
Jim Davis: 425-339-3097; jdavis@heraldnet.com.
Fortune 500
Only 10 companies based in Washington in 2015 landed on Fortune 500, an annual list compiled by the magazine of companies based on total revenue for their respective fiscal years.
All of the companies are in King County.
18. Costco, Issaquah, Specialty retailers
29. Amazon, Seattle, Internet services
31. Microsoft, Redmond, Computer software
158. Paccar, Bellevue, Motor vehicles and parts
187. Starbucks, Seattle, Food services
224. Nordstrom, Seattle, General merchandiser
335. Weyerhauser, Federal Way, Forest and paper products
413. Expeditors International of Washington, Seattle, Transportation logistics
458. Expedia, Bellevue, Internet services
484. Alaska Air Group, Seattle, Airlines
Source: Fortune magazine
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