Milwaukee Electric Tool (MET) has completed its acquisition of Empire Level. According to MET spokesperson, Kharli Tyler, “(The acquisition of Empire) really allowed Milwaukee Tool to expand our solution portfolio in the layout and measurement categories, and we'll be able to provide the resources and support needed to grow the Empire brand.”
Empire’s legal name will be changed to “Empire Level, a division of Milwaukee Tool”, but the brands will remain separate because they cater to different groups of users.
The relationship between Milwaukee Tool and Empire Level goes back a few years. Empire, which makes Milwaukee’s torpedo level, is located in Mukwonago, WI; Milwaukee’s U.S. headquarters are about 20 miles away in Brookfield, WI.
Empire Level, a 95-year-old family-run company with about 200 employees, has production facilities in the U.S. and China. Milwaukee Electric Tool, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries (TTi) has about 1,500 employees in North America. Its main production facilities are in China but it also has plants in the U.S. and Germany.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed and it is unclear what will eventually happen to Empire’s U.S. employees.
