Eaton Hydraulics sold to Danish company for $3.3 billion

Eaton Corporation, an Eden Prairie company with a long and storied past, has been sold to a Danish industrial company.

On Aug. 2 Eaton Corp. finalized the $3.3 billion sale of its hydraulics business – including a plant and offices along Highway 5 in Eden Prairie – to Danfoss A/S. In the process, Danfoss grows by one-third and establishes itself as a global leader in mobile and industrial hydraulics.

The Eaton hydraulics business is being combined with the Danfoss Power Solutions business segment, doubling the size of Danfoss’ hydraulics operations and adding approximately 10,000 employees – including 440 who work in Eden Prairie.

Mobile hydraulics has been one of Danfoss’ core and most successful businesses for more than 50 years.

Eaton said it hoped the sale of the hydraulics business will lead to higher growth and more earnings consistency.

Remaining at Eaton after the sale are four divisions: Aerospace, Electrical, e-Mobility, and Vehicle, with Electrical and Aerospace accounting for most of the company’s profits. Eaton’s corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, and its operational headquarters are in Beachwood, Ohio.

The Eden Prairie manufacturing plant’s products include Char-Lynn controls and motors that are named after Lynn “Buck” Charlson, a self-taught inventor and founder of the Char-Lynn Company that was the original name of the company located along Highway 5 before it was purchased by Eaton Corp. in 1970.

Charlson died in 2004 but the industry still regards him as the man who revolutionized hydraulics with his innovative design principles. He built the Eden Prairie manufacturing plant in 1965. Charlson Road, an Eden Prairie city street that runs along the south side of Flying Cloud Airport, is named after Lynn Charlson.

(Mark Weber is executive director of the Eden Prairie Community Foundation and Eaton Corp. is among its business sponsors. Eaton executive Astrid Mozes is on the Foundation’s board of directors.)