By Chris Anderson

UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J.-The rumor mill in now officially closed: The Texwipe Co. and Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) announced in late May that ITW would purchase Texwipe for an undisclosed sum

“In order to grow the business, we felt it would be advantageous to search for a strategic partner,” said William Paley, president of Texwipe. “After careful consideration, the ITW acquisition provided an excellent opportunity to reach this goal.”

While the sale of Texwipe is big news in the cleanrooms industry, the announcement of the sale hardly caught the industry by surprise. Rumors have circulated for months about potential suitors for Texwipe, with both Kimberly Clark and Milliken often cited as companies that could best take advantage of the company’s core products of wipers, swabs, sterile and non-sterile cleaning solutions and mops.

That ITW, a $10 billion, 600-company conglomerate with 55,000 employees worldwide, was the eventual winner in the bidding for Texwipe also came as little surprise. Swab manufacturer Coventry and static control equipment maker SIMCO, among others, already ply the waters in the cleanroom industry for ITW.

“The acquisition certainly gives us more critical mass in the wipes and swabs side of the market,” said John Brooklier, vice president of investor relations for Glenview, Ill.-based ITW. “We believe we can leverage and increase Texwipe’s $75 million in sales by marketing its products and providing a wider offering to companies in the industry.”

While offering Texwipe products alongside those of other ITW companies is an obvious change in how it approaches the market, much will remain unchanged, Brooklier noted. ITW’s management philosophy is firmly rooted in a decentralization of its holdings. Of the company?s 55,000 employees, only 125 work in the company’s headquarters. That means Texwipe will continue to operate from its base here and will proceed with business as usual.