Bently sale inked

The sale of Bently Nevada to General Electric is final, the companies announced Thursday.

Following a small signing ceremony in San Francisco, the companies confirmed Atlanta-based GE Power Systems had received regulatory approval for the acquisition of Minden's largest private employer, the last hurdle in the transaction.

In November, the companies publicly announced the impending deal, ending months of speculation.

From his Minden office, Bently Nevada founder Don Bently, 77, said the deal was in the "hundreds of millions of dollars."

"I did better than I would have in a public offering, I think," Bently said. "And the check cleared. They paid and it is sitting in the bank.

"I feel pretty good about it. It was a win-win for GE and a win-win for me."

Bently said he had talked with GE on at least four occasions, but previous to last year nothing panned out. He will stay with the company as ownership changes hands, then shift his concentration to his other businesses, with an emphasis on his companies Bently Agrowdynamics (where he controls 38,000 acres of Carson Valley agricultural activity) and Bently Pressurized Bearing Corp. Both are located in Minden.

"I like land and I'm interested in modern farming methodology," he said. "Good land needs to be used for growing crops."

Bently expects to invest proceeds from the sale in large land acquisitions in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Nevada. He said as energy needs change, solar and biomass technology will come to the forefront and land will be the key power component.

Bently Agrowdynamics, he says, has made huge strides in modernizing farming practices. He boasts of a healthy 50,000-ton alfalfa crop in 2001, during an unseasonably dry growing season.

GE was also tight-lipped about the transaction. Spokesman Dennis Murphy said tradition and Securities and Exchange Commission laws prevent immediate disclosure of the sale price. "Unless it is deemed material by the SEC, it is the standard not to disclose," he said.

He did say that GE's plans for the company will likely keep it in Minden, where a new 283,000 square-foot, $30 million headquarters -- and the brains behind Bently's signature industrial vibration monitoring equipment -- are located. As part of the deal, GE acquired land adjacent to the building for expansion.

"It's pretty clear (GE) didn't do this to break up the company," he said.

Bently agreed. He said the contract does not preclude the possibility the company will move, but said he believes, at least for the foreseeable future, GE is best served by retaining the Minden facility.

With the deal done, it won't be long before Bently's approximately 1,200 Minden employees are introduced to a GE transition team, said Steve Sabin, Bently Nevada marketing manager. Bently Nevada has 900 additional employees in sales and research worldwide.

"As early as next week, we will start having some meetings about what it means to be a GE employee," he said.

Bently Nevada's unique influence in Carson Valley has been fuel for rumors about GE's intentions for the facility and its work force, but the trepidation has cooled, Bently said.

"It's settled down," he said. "People were saying 'I am going to lose my job, I need to move East now' but I'm pretty sure they'll stay here."

"The reality is that employees automatically become employees of GE," Sabin said. "They don't have to interview for their jobs, there won't be a big turnover."

He added some are looking forward to the acquisition, for potential increases in pay and benefits.

And it is likely that the Bently name will be retained in some form.

"We don't have a final name, but I'm sure 'Bently' will stay part of that company," Murphy said. "The name means so much in the industry it would be crazy to change it."

As a young University of California, Berkeley engineering doctorate student, Bently developed the technology that would bear his name. Bently Nevada incorporated in 1961 with a work force of three people. In the ensuing years, cutting-edge technology pushed Bently Nevada to a position of world dominance in the field of vibration monitoring equipment.

Consolidated worldwide sales in 2001 were more than $230 million.

Despite his lengthy entrepreneurial career, this is the first time Bently has sold a company. And the deal was virtually done on a handshake.

"I didn't read too much of the contract," he said. "Too many pages.

"I won't be a vice president in GE, I'm getting too old for that," he said, "but it is an honest business and they are honest people."

Bently has said he will continue his passion for engineering and business with his companies National Tribology Services, Inc. of Peabody, Mass., an oil-analysis laboratory; Gibson Tool and Supply of Carson City and Bently Holding Corp., his international real estate company, as well as Bently Pressurized Bearing Corp. and Bently Agrowdynamics.

Christopher Bently, Don's son, will continue in his position as company vice chairman.

"He's a people person," Bently said. "I've learned that this business is about 95 percent people skills and 5 percent engineering."

On the Web

Bently Nevada Corp.

www.bently.com