by GERMANTOWN, Wisc. – Innovative Motion Technologies (IMT), the parent company of Raffel Systems, an industrial technology company and industry-leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of integrated electronic controls and accessories for motion furniture, RVs, bedding, hospitality, healthcare, retail, cinema, and industrial applications, today announced that it has acquired Allentown, NJ-based Micro-Air, a leading designer and manufacturer of electronic controls for heat and air conditioning applications in the RV, marine and residential industries.
Founded in 1983, Micro-Air offers an innovative family of products, including its signature EasyStartTM, a one-of-a-kind, custom-developed soft starter brand that reduces HVAC systems start-up current and enhances system life, and its EasyTouchTM Thermostat providing smart thermostat functionality for optimal cabin comfort control. Micro-Air sells primarily to the aftermarket through its e-commerce presence and through distributors, in addition to its OEM customers.
“The mission of the IMT platform is to bring innovation and technology, through enhanced functionality, to the products into which they are integrated across a multitude of end markets served by the IMT companies” said IMT’s subsidiary Raffel Systems President Rich Weeden. “Micro-Air fits perfectly into that mission with its brand that is well known and deeply respected for its heritage, innovation, quality and customer service. We see tremendous potential through this acquisition to deepen IMT’s and Raffel’s existing end markets and expand into new end markets while building upon the innovative designs and features that Micro-Air has provided to the RV, marine, and residential electronics markets.”
IMT’s investment in Micro-Air will create significant end market, channel and geographical diversification for its platform. The platform will immediately benefit from cross-channel and cross-market sales opportunities, benefitting from each subsidiary’s strong distributor and OEM relationships. Micro-Air’s e-commerce expertise and direct-to-consumer channel will also provide Raffel an accelerated path to grow aftermarket sales. In addition, Micro-Air will provide additional supply chain diversification through its long-standing U.S. manufacturing presence.
The combined engineering resources of the two subsidiaries enable continued world-class product development efforts to bring new and innovative products to market at an accelerated pace.
The Micro-Air team will remain in place. Andy Spaziani, Founder of Micro-Air, will continue in his current role while becoming an advisory Board member and shareholder of IMT alongside Cathay Capital and Management. Rich Weeden, Raffel President, will expand his role to oversee the combined business.
“We are thrilled to welcome Andy and the Micro-Air team to the IMT family,” said Mark Woods, Chairman of IMT, and Partner and Head of North American Private Equity at Cathay Capital, the largest shareholder of IMT. “The addition of Micro-Air will further strengthen IMT as a leading industrial technology platform that is innovating across end markets, geographies and channels. We look forward to leveraging its sales presence, engineering talent and infrastructure to further accelerate Micro-Air’s already impressive growth profile.”
All Micro-Air products will continue to be designed and manufactured at the company’s Allentown, NJ facility. Both Raffel Systems and Micro-Air will continue to operate and market products under their respective and award-winning brand names.
