Our Stories

• 

• Still Poppin’

  AC Horn Manufacturing. Built with integrity. It all started in a modest garage in Texas in 1907...

  Read more

• 

• PROBAT accelerates strategic development with acquisition of AC Horn Manufacturing

  Emmerich, Germany, February 29, 2024: PROBAT announces the acquisition of AC Horn Manufacturing, a world-class producer of premium food processing equipment, based in Texas, USA. With this strategic investment, the global market and technology leader in coffee roasting plant and machinery strengthens its competitive advantage through new technological capabilities and synergies to further penetrate the global food market.

  Originally a small sheet metal business founded in 1907, AC Horn has developed into a leading global supplier of food processing equipment. PROBAT's investment in this acquisition not only complements its existing products and services, particularly for nut and snack processing, but also increases the efficiency of its own production processes through greater vertical integration. Furthermore, AC Horn and PROBAT share an unrivalled commitment to their customers that sets both companies apart in their respective industries.

  “PROBAT and AC Horn are two family-owned companies that have more in common than separates them. Our combined expertise will strengthen both companies to the benefit of our customers and all stakeholders. I am very pleased that Michael Horn has decided to remain at the helm in Dallas and look forward to a shared future,” says PROBAT CEO Wim Abbing after the acquisition.

  PROBAT is strategically focused on continuing to invest in its growing business and sees the acquisition of AC Horn as a great opportunity to build on a complementary portfolio that will allow the company to expand its product offering. By adding new resources and building larger and stronger teams of experts with a wide range of skills, PROBAT also underpins its mission to offer its customers individual and future-proof solutions.

  Michael Horn, President & CEO of AC Horn Manufacturing, is also looking forward to a shared future with PROBAT: “I am incredibly excited and proud for AC Horn to join PROBAT. My team and I have worked hard to build a strong brand and we are eager to take it to the next level in this new journey. PROBAT is a great company with many cultural similarities to AC Horn. It is the right home for the company that my family has built over the last 117 years. I look forward to the new opportunity and cannot wait to get to work!”

  As a member of the PROBAT Group, AC Horn will be well positioned to deliver the value and quality that its customers have come to expect — and beyond.

  

  
  

  About A.C. Horn
  A.C. Horn is the world leader in snack food processing equipment, renowned for quality design, reliability, integrity, and durability. Its product range includes high quality roasters and dryers, grinders, granulators, cookers, and coaters. The company is an invaluable partner to snack food manufacturers around the world. Countless smaller manufacturers rely on its outstanding expertise and unparalleled offering, as do some of the industry's largest companies.

  
  

  About PROBAT
  PROBAT has been developing pioneering solutions for the coffee industry for more than 150 years. The company is the world market and technology leader in coffee processing plant and machinery. Its range of services includes the development, design, and construction of roasters and grinders as well as the planning and implementation of industrial production facilities. Machine and plant controls, environmental technologies, and comprehensive services also make up part of PROBAT's product portfolio. Together with subsidiaries in Brazil, Canada, India, Italy, Scotland, and the USA, PROBAT has approx. 1,000 employees. Furthermore, agencies in more than 40 countries ensure that the age-long experience and know-how of PROBAT are being used globally.

  
  

  Press contact

  PROBAT SE
  Reeser Str. 94
  46446 Emmerich am Rhein
  Germany
  www.probat.com
  

  Iris Gerlach / Marketing
  P +49 2822 912-597
  C +49 174 990 9900
  i.gerlach@probat.com

  Read More

• 

• Michael Horn named CTE Champion of the Year by Dallas Independent School District

  The team at AC Horn has greatly enjoyed working with students from the Dallas Independent School District’s Career and Technical Education Program over the past year. Apparently, the feeling is mutual, because the district named company President Michael Horn its CTE Champion of the Year.

  

  The honor comes as part of the CTE program’s 3D Design Challenge, which was begun as a way to honor some of the district’s industry partners and showcase how their engagement affects students. Horn’s award represents that he is an “all-around advocate for all things CTE (students, teachers, department, and other partners),” according to the district, which added that “Michael exemplified this award by continuing to advocate for the underrepresented career cluster of Manufacturing with the following: sharing his network to get involved with the CTE program, reaching out to the CTE program to inquire if we needed/wanted manufacturing equipment, being an active member of the Industry Leadership Council (ILC), sharing his experience with hosting a virtual worksite tour, reaching out to the CTE department on job opportunities at his company, hosting student interns during this year's internship program, and being the first industry partner to host a virtual worksite tour during the 2020-2021 school year.”

  “We have enjoyed working with the district and the CTE program, and our first two summer interns were great additions to the AC Horn team,” Horn says. “They got exposure to things they may want to do in their careers and plenty of hands-on experience. We are eager to continue helping our diverse student population get plugged into real-world opportunities where they can visualize and understand all that they are learning from the CTE’s outstanding faculty and curriculum.”

  More than 50,000 of the school district’s students are enrolled in the CTE program, whose mission is “every Dallas Independent School District CTE student will graduate with a high school diploma plus post-secondary credit and/or industry-recognized certification.” To meet this goal, the district offers courses across 135 comprehensive CTE pathways to students in grades 6 through 12.

  Read More

• 

• AC Horn inaugural internship with Dallas schools is a resounding success

  When representatives from AC Horn attended a virtual job fair for the Dallas Independent School District’s Career and Technical Education Program last spring, they were hoping to find one candidate for a summer internship. Instead, they were so impressed with the CTE students that two were hired — a big move for a company with only 70 full-time staff.

  That level of talent set the tone for the entire internship, which ran from mid-June through August, says Michael Horn, president.

  “Our team was so impressed with these two students, one of whom worked in an engineering support role, while another learned CNC, or computer numerical control,” Horn says. “Typically, a trainee would start on a manual lathe rather than CNC, but our intern was a natural and picked it up in a week. By the end of his internship, he was an equal member of the machine shop.”

  The second intern had equally solid achievements, doing 3-D AutoCAD work by the end of his program, Horn adds, noting that the hands-on learning at AC Horn could be invaluable to the two students in their future studies and careers.

  “The school system sent us the best of the best, and we were able to pick up where classroom teaching left off and allow them to learn on the job,” he says. “We didn’t know what to expect, and now can see the great things that the CTE program is accomplishing with their students. I hope we can get more of them next summer and eventually bring them back as new staff members. This program is really good news for us, as well as other manufacturers in the area, because it shows that our school system is working to create a pipeline of skilled workers that will help us attract and retain top talent and grow our local economy.”

  

  The internship program participation is a part of AC Horn’s ongoing partnership with the Dallas ISD.

  Read More