WAUKEGAN, IL--Yaskawa Electric America Inc. has acquired the drives business unit of MagneTek Inc. (New Berlin, WI).

A manufacturer of drives, motion control equipment and robotics, Yaskawa had been manufacturing AC inverter drives sold under the MagneTek name. By acquiring the MagneTek business, Yaskawa's hopes to gain 20 percent of the global market for AC drives.

MagneTek will retain its industrial controls business unit, which supplies controls for operating cranes, elevators, mining equipment and other machinery.