Acquisitions and Investments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Acquisitions and Investments [Abstract]

Acquisitions and Investments

Note 3    Acquisitions and Investments

On January 26, 2011, the Company purchased Remag AG of Bern, Switzerland for $4.9 million. Remag manufactures and markets a small plastic turbine meter used in HVAC and white goods. The Company included these products with its other specialty application products. The Company’s purchase price allocation included $0.9 million of cash, plus approximately $0.4 million of receivables, $0.4 million of inventory, $0.3 million of other assets, $2.0 million of fixed assets, $1.8 million of intangibles, $0.2 million of goodwill and $1.1 million of liabilities.

The Remag acquisition was accounted for under the purchase method, and accordingly, the results of operations were included in the Company’s financial statements from the date of acquisition. The acquisition did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements or the notes thereto.

On April 1, 2010, the Company purchased Cox Instruments, LLC of Scottsdale, Arizona, and its subsidiary Flow Dynamics, Inc. for $7.8 million. Cox Instruments and Flow Dynamics manufacture and market precision high performance flow meters that are used in demanding applications such as aerospace, custody transfer and flow measurement test stands. The Company merged the two entities into a wholly-owned subsidiary named Cox Flow Measurement, Inc. on April 1, 2010, and merged the subsidiary into Badger Meter, Inc. on December 31, 2010. The Company’s purchase price allocation included $0.6 million of cash, plus approximately $0.7 million of receivables, $1.1 million of inventory, $0.3 million of fixed assets, $4.3 million of intangibles, $2.2 million of goodwill and $1.4 million of liabilities.

The Cox Instruments acquisition was accounted for under the purchase method, and accordingly, the results of operations were included in the Company’s financial statements from the date of acquisition. The acquisition did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements or the notes thereto.

In September 2010, the Company acquired a license to manufacture and sell a key component of the Company’s line of turbine meters for $8.0 million. This amount is included in Intangible Assets in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

In June 2010, the Company invested $1.5 million to purchase a small ownership percentage in an emerging technology company. This amount is included in Other Assets in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company accounts for this investment under the cost method as it does not have the ability to exercise significant influence and there is not a readily determinable market value.

Refer to Note 1 “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” under the heading “Subsequent Events” for a discussion the Racine Federated acquisition.