Quelques précisions au sujet de Donaldson

Grâce à la magie de l'internet, mon article au sujet de Donaldson Company -- même si il est écrit en français -- a suscité de l'intérêt aux États-Unis, notamment dans la région de Minneapolis, au Minnesota, où se trouve le siège social de la société.

Un de ces lecteurs anglophones, qui dit suivre les activités de Donaldson depuis de nombreuses années, a même communiqué avec moi en fin de semaine pour ajouter son grain de sel.

À la condition que je garde son identité confidentielle, il m'a donné la permission de vous livrer ses observations. Les voici:

Marc

I enjoyed your blog about DCI. It was very thorough and you captured the essence of the value of an investment in DCI. A couple points of interest: Pall and Clarcor are key competitors as you state, however, the others mentioned are much less so. Two other major ones include Fleetguard, a Cummins company, and Parker.

Fleetguard supplies first fit to Cummins and they are a major aftermarket competitor in both filters and mufflers. Parker has a wide range of hydraulic, fuel and air filters, much gained through acquisition. Fram is another large aftermarket filter competitor but they also mfg. air cleaners for Mack.

As you will see when we move out of recession, DCI will generate an extraordinary level of free cash flow. They are in the process of cost cutting now and, as volume improves, they throw off large amounts of cash, primarily from the engine business. This has happened following every business downturn since 1979.

Finally, as important as geographical diversification has become, the key strategy was market/product diversification instituted by Bill Hodder. DCI was so tied to Cat (N.d.l.r.: Caterpillar) that the stock price always fluctuated in line with that giant. That is, thankfully, no longer the case but it took the market a long time to realize that.

Best regards

Voilà. J'ai pensé qu'il valait la peine d'apporter ces quelques précisions afin de tracer le portrait le plus complet possible de Donaldson Company.

Bonne journée!