K-Tron International paid $US9 million for the privately-held J.M.J. Industries, which operates its business under the trade name Gundlach.

St. Louis-based Gundlach is best known for its single and two-stage double roll crushers which crush coal at the mine mouth and the preparation plant. Its roll crushers, cage mills and other equipment also are used to crush coal in coal-fired power stations.

Top management of Gundlach is expected to remain following the acquisition, including chief Tom Dinges and chairman Ted Gundlach.

"The acquisition of Gundlach significantly expands the scope of K-Tron's activities in the coal supply chain, from size-reducing coal at the coal mine, where Gundlach is a leader, to further crushing it at the coal-fired power plant, where our Pennsylvania Crusher Corporation subsidiary is a leader,” said K-Tron chief Edward B Cloues, II.

K-Tron acquired Pennsylvania Crusher Corporation and its subsidiary Jeffrey Specialty Equipment Corporation in 2003.

He said the combination of the two businesses should create new opportunities for each company and should also strengthen their position in the growing Chinese mining and coal-fired power station markets

"We view the fit of our Gundlach business with K-Tron as being a good one for our company and our employees, and we are enthusiastic about the opportunities which it presents," he added.

K-Tron International produces material handling equipment and systems for a wide variety of industrial markets and has manufacturing facilities in the US, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.