Business:
Business:
Dover (DOV) is a diversified, global manufacturing conglomerate that operates in four major business segments:
- Communication Technologies
- Energy
- Engineered Systems
- Printing & Identification
Within each segment, DOV manages an array of businesses which manufacture items such as hearing aids, speakers, cell phones, air conditioning systems, automated car wash systems, refrigeration systems and glass enclosures, which are used for supermarket refrigeration systems. A list of the company’s subsidiaries can be downloaded here.
(Note: The list was taken from the company’s 2009 10-K. According to a representative who works in the company’s Investor Relations department, it is the only known list in existence, and approximately three of the companies have been sold since the list was compiled.)
The company is so massive that some analyst actually use it as a proxy to gauge how the overall, global economy is performing. Presently, the company has a market cap of $12.4 billion, and it is continuing to grow. In 2012, the company spent $1.2 billion on acquisitions, which the company’s president, Robert A. Livingston, believes recent acquisitions “significantly enhanced [the] Company’s position in [its] growth spaces of energy, communication components, refrigeration & food service equipment, fluid solutions and product identification.” [2012 Annual Report]
Some of the key points Mr. Livingston makes (more)
