Hillenbrand acquires another maker of equipment to process food, materials

BATESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — An Indiana business once known for its casket manufacturing announced Wednesday it has acquired a Kansas City, Missouri-maker of equipment to process food and materials.

Batesville, Indiana-based Hillenbrand Inc. will acquire Schenck Process Food and Performance Materials, also known as FPM, for $730 million, says a news release.

The release did not contain information on how employees of both companies could be affected.

Hillenbrand in February completed the sale of its casket company. When first announced in December, the deal was valued at $761.5 million.

For the FPM purchase, Hillenbrand expects to use cash on hand and cash from revolving credit.

The purchase of FPM is pending regulatory approval. FMP will become part of Hillenbrand’s Advanced Process Solutions segment.

Hillenbrand in 2022 also acquired other makers of equipment for processing of food, medicine and materials: Linxis Group, Peerless Food Equipment, and Gabler Engineering.

Kim Ryan, president and chief executive officer of Hillenbrand, said in the release that the company’s recent changes are allowing it to become “a global leader in highly-engineered, mission-critical industrial processing solutions.”

The Batesville Coffin Co. was founded in 1884. John A. Hillenbrand bought it in 1906, and it became the Batesville Casket Co. ​Hill-Rom, which made hospital beds and patient-monitoring devices, was started in 1929 as a sister company of Batesville Casket as part of Hillenbrand Industries. The two companies split in 2008, and Hill-Rom moved its headquarters to Chicago in 2015. Hill-Rom in September 2021 still employed as many 1,900.