US machine tool company Cincinnati Lamb, which has operations in the West Midlands, has been sold in an agreement worth a total of £32 million.

The company, formerly known as Cincinnati Milacron and before that Cincinnati Milling Machines, was sold by parent group Unova, based in Washington State, to MAG Industrial Automation Systems, part of New York group Maxcor.

Maxcor is paying $26 million (£14 million) in cash and notes and is assuming about $ 34 million (£18 million) of largely pensions related debt.

Cincinnati Lamb was part of Unova's Industrial Automation division which the group is selling in order to concentrate on other operations.

"This is the first of two anticipated transactions that reflects our progress in meeting our stated commitment of divesting our Industrial Automation business," said Unova chief financial officer Michael Keane.

"This transaction further enhances our ability to invest in our continuing Intermec operations."

Unova said it anticipated no disruption to Cincinnati Lamb's business, customer relations or strategic direction as a result of the sale to Maxcor.

Cincinnati Lamb is headquartered in Warren, Michigan, and has operations in the US, England, Germany, China and Korea.

The company employs about 1,300 people throughout the world.

The company is one of the most famous names in the history of Birmingham's engineering sector having been established at its site in Kingsbury Road, Castle Vale, in 1934.

The factory was the first that Cincinnati established outside the United States and at its peak employed about 2,000 people.

Throughout the duration of the Second World War it produced vital milling and cutter sharpening machines.

The site now produces computer controlled vertical machining and turning centres for the European market but the business employs only about 200 people.

Cincinnatti also has a centre at Monkspath Business Park in Solihull and an operation at Mildenhall, Suffolk.

The company won a Queen's Award for Exports in 1995.

Its products are used in the global aerospace, automotive, heavy equipments and general machining markets.

New owner Maxcor describes itself as an " operations management and acquisitions organization with emphasis on operational improvement and growth strategies".

Chairman and chief executive officer Mo Meidar said: "Cincinnati Lamb has a long tradition of assisting customers in key manufacturing sectors to achieve higher productivity while driving production costs down.

"Maxcor is dedicated to building on that tradition by utilising our expertise to foster greater product innovation and development as well as to continue the successful track record of unmatched customer service and product life cycle support."

No one was available at Cincinnati Lamb in Birmingham for comment.

Cincinnati was founded in 1884 and adopted the name Cincinnati Milling Machine Company in 1900.

It was one of the pioneers of the aviation industry, making a range of broaching and profiling machines.

It later changed its name to Cincinnati Milacron and became part of Unova in 1998.

The business was merged with its Unova sister company Lamb Technicon two years ago in 2003.