JACKSON TWP. – Timken Co. is expanding its bearings operations with the purchase of GGB Bearing Technology, a company that traces its founding to 1899.

GGB serves a variety of customers, markets and regions with a product line of engineered metal-polymer plain bearings that complement Timken's business. Plain bearings have a smooth surface that allows a shaft to rotate, but there are no roller elements such as those found in ball bearings or tapered roller bearings.

Timken has offered $305 million to acquire GGB from its parent company, Enpro Industries. The deal, which was announced Tuesday, includes exclusive negotiations with respect to GGB's French operations.

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The companies expect the deal to close by the end of this year. GGB's revenue is projected to be about $200 million during 2022.

GGB has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe and China, along with global engineering, sales and distribution operations. The company has about 900 employees.

Timken said GGB's products are used in industrial equipment, pumps and compressors, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, off-highway vehicles, energy, material handling and aerospace markets.

"GGB has a strong heritage of delivering high-performance products to well-established customers who are leaders in their respective industries," Richard G. Kyle, Timken president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement announcing the deal.

GGB started in 1899 in London as Findlay Motor Metals, and later was renamed Glacier Antifriction Metal Co.In 1976, Glacier Antifriction Metal entered a joint venture with Garlock Inc., its U.S. distributor for bearings, to form GGB Bearing Technology. The engineered industrial products division of B.F. Goodrich bought GGB in 2001, then spun the division off as Enpro Industries in 2002.