Empire District Electric subsidiary purchases Precision Products Department

Joplin-based Empire District Electric Company announced that its subsidiary, EDE Holdings Inc., has, together with other investors, acquired the assets of the Precision Products Department of Eagle Picher Technologies LLC.

The July 18 acquisition was accomplished through the creation of a newly formed company, Mid-America Precision Products LLC.

Mid-America Precision Products specializes in close-tolerance custom manufacturing for the aerospace, electronics, telecommunications and machinery industries, including components for specialized batteries for Eagle Picher Technologies.

EDE Holdings acquired a controlling 50 percent interest in Mid-America Precision Products through a cash investment of $650,000.

Other investors who participated in the acquisition included four members of Eagle Picher Technologies and the Precision Products Department management, along with outside investor Kenneth E. Ellis.

Mid-America Precision Products includes the former Eagle Picher Technologies operations in Joplin and Stella. It has offered employment to all current employees of these Eagle Picher Technologies operations, approximately 115 employees.

Ron Gatz, vice president of nonregulated services at Empire District Electric Company, said, "This is EDE Holdings' first opportunity to invest in an established company.

"We are pleased at the chance to be a part of this move to retain an important area industry.

"This department of Eagle Picher has been an integral part of Eagle Picher Industries for 40 years and will continue to provide precision components to Eagle Picher Technologies as well as other manufacturers."

Bill Gipson, president and chief executive officer of Empire District Electric Company, said, "We are excited about this opportunity. We believe that Mid-America Precision Products is a prudent nonregulated expansion that has the potential to augment our earnings. It will not change the basic nature of our business, which is a vertically integrated utility."

Empire District Electric Company is an investor-owned utility providing electric service to approximately 150,000 customers in southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas.

The company also offers monitored security, fiber optic service and decorative lighting services to its customers, and provides water service in three incorporated communities in Missouri.