18 Sep Esmark Acquired KMA Manufacturing in Vanport
September 18, 2014, Beaver County Times Business
By Tom Davidson
VANPORT TWP. — A steel processing company based in the township has been acquired by a Pittsburgh-based industrial group in a move that should mean good news for the future, according to a group spokesman.
“We think it’s going to be a complimentary addition to our portfolio and an opportunity for these employees to grow with us,” Bill Keegan of Esmark Industrial Group said Wednesday. “We look forward to welcoming these new employees and continuing our growth strategy.”
Esmark bought KMA Manufacturing based in Vanport Township in a multi-million dollar deal, Keegan said.
KMA was formerly Pittsburgh Annealing Box Inc., a company Esmark officials described as “one of the most storied named in steel industry services” that was founded in 1893.
The company’s been in Vanport since 2005.
The new company, which is a unit of Esmark Excalibur, LLC, will be operated as Excalibur Machine & Fabrication – Vanport.
The newly acquired assets feature 65,000 square-feet of manufacturing facilities with 100-ton lifting capacity, according to a news release.
Esmark officials pledged in the release to “restore the operations to their former status as a world-class supplier of maintenance, steel fabrication and repair solutions to the steel and metals industries.”
Esmark Industrial Group CEO Dave Luptak said the strategic acquisition of the Vanport facility will provide an excellent complement to Excalibur’s existing operations.
“Combined with our ASME-certified manufacturing facility and 100-ton lifting capacity, the addition of the former Pittsburgh Annealing Box assets will significantly enhance our ability to provide customers with a full range of steel processing, machining, fabricating and assembly services,” he said.
Excalibur Machine & Fabrication, based in Meadville, is a precision machining and fabrication company that manufactures and supplies parts,
components and sub-assemblies to companies including GE Transportation, Riley Power and JLG Industries.
Excalibur also maintains machining and fabricating facilities in Conneaut Lake and Linesville.
KMA Manufacturing is a subsidiary of Marubeni Corp., one of Japan’s leading trading firms with a worldwide business network.
The Vanport facility will employ 37 of the former KMA employees, adding to Excalibur’s existing workforce of approximately 110 employees, most of them located at Excalibur’s Meadville, Conneaut Lake and Linesville, facilities, Luptak said.
Esmark Industrial Group LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Esmark Inc., was formed in 2009 to identify and acquire steel-related industrial equipment companies, according to a news release.
“With the addition of KMA we believe we’ll be able to expand into a larger sector,” Keegan said.