Mining equipment maker Joy Global Inc. announced that it will acquire some of the assets of Mining Technologies International Inc. for $46.4 million, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Joy Global said it expects the acquisition to add to earnings in 2015, and to be completed within 90 days if all conditions for the deal are met.
Mining Technologies is a Canadian manufacturer of underground hard rock mining equipment. Joy Global said it will acquire "substantially all" of the assets associated with Mining Technologies' hard rock drilling, loaders, dump trucks, shaft sinking, and raise bore product lines. Fiscal 2013 revenue for these product lines was about $90 million.

"This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity as we execute on our growth strategy to expand our underground mining product lines into the hard rock markets including nickel, potash, palladium, platinum, gold and copper," said Ted Doheny, Joy Global's president and chief executive officer.

Joy said in September it was laying off as many as 200 manufacturing plant workers in Milwaukee in response to a global slowdown in the mining industry that cut deeply into equipment sales. The company reported a 66 percent drop in quarterly earnings in early March, but said demand from miners for maintenance work was returning after more than a yearlong, industry wide struggle with a coal glut and weak prices.