PBE is a manufacturer of electronics mainly in the mining safety area.

TR chief executive officer David Gallagher confirmed the sale, which he said was a major boost for the Minecom business.

“This sale will create enormous opportunity for the Minecom business with an expanded range of mining safety products that will allow it to grow market share both in Australia and the international markets the business operates in,” he said.

PBE had a long-standing relationship with TR Minecom which started many years ago when the Virginia-based company became a major distributor for TR Minecom in the US.

TR Minecom has extensive experience in the design and manufacture of intrinsically safe communication systems for all types of underground environments from coal mining and tunneling to hard rock mining.

Gallagher said it would make the perfect business fit for the US-based PBE, which had expertise in coal mining.

The ownership of all products, people and intellectual property of the Minecom business will transfer to PBE.

Gallagher said the sale of TR Minecom would allow TR to direct its focus on other business operations.

“Through the divestment of our manufacturing business, we can invest more heavily in our core business sectors of rental, calibration and service provision of electronic technology solutions in our key markets of Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia,” Gallagher said.

Meanwhile, PBE chief executive officer Stuart Champion said the acquisition of Minecom was a natural step towards the company achieving its business goals.

“PBE has worked closely with the Minecom business over the years and have always admired the quality of their products and technical sales focus,” he said.

“The combination of the two businesses makes a lot of sense, enabling PBE to continue its strategy of becoming a single source provider for safety, monitoring and communications systems to the global mining industry.”