Littelfuse Buys Hamlin

Littelfuse Inc. has agreed to buy sensor-maker Hamlin Inc. for $145 million in an all-cash deal the companies expect to finalize at the end of May.

Chicago-based Littelfuse says the acquisition will help buttress its aim to develop a global automotive sensor business. The 86-year-old company is best known for its fuses and other circuit protection technology.

Hamlin is a Wisconsin-based maker of reed, hall-effect, inductive and linear sensing devices. The company also makes electrical switches and relays.