Ellicott dredge enterprises is pleased to announce that its parent, Markel Corporation, (NYSE: MKL) has earned a position on the latest Fortune 500 list, at number 476, with over USD 5 billion of revenues. Ellicott dredge enterprises is part of Markel Ventures (MV), the non-insurance operations of Markel. Markel Ventures, with over 7,000 employees and over USD 1 billion in revenues, earned over 70% of that revenue from manufacturing operations including Ellicott.
In its 30 years as a public company, Markel has posted outstanding financial returns with a growth rate in book value of 14% per annum, compounded, growing from USD 16 million to almost USD 8 billion. Current market value exceeds USD 13 billion. Earnings over that same period have grown more than one hundred fold, from USD 5million to almost USD 600 million.
Buy, build, and hold
Markel’s strategy for its non-insurance operations (MV) is to “buy, build, and hold.” A subsequent sale or exit is not part of the MV business model. “Ellicott, a 130+ year old company with established management and market-leading products and technologies, meets our criteria well,” said Ventures CEO Mike Heaton. Ellicott President and CEO Peter Bowe noted that having the backing of Markel gives Ellicott customers the comfort of knowing that Ellicott will be around another century to serve them and support their growth, through good times and bad.
