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Preservative supplier Koppers Holdings, Pittsburgh, Pa., has reentered the industrial treating business with its purchase of the industrial division of Cox Industries, Orangeburg, S.C., for approximately $200 million in cash.
Cox Industrial will be renamed as the Utility and Industrial Products unit of Koppers.
Three years ago, Koppers sold its U.S. utility pole business to Cox. “We are thrilled to return to the U.S. utility pole market with a significantly larger presence than when we exited the business in January 2015,” said president and CEO Leroy Ball. “While we were working hard during the past several years to restructure our operations and reduce our balance sheet leverage, Cox Industrial grew to become the largest supplier of utility poles in the eastern U.S. The opportunity to re-enter this market with the scale to better compete, along with gaining a growth-focused management team, was attractive and compelling. In addition to numerous synergies being explored, we plan to focus on continuing to grow the business organically as well as through strategic partnerships and select acquisitions.”
With eight treating plants, three peeling facilities, and 19 reload yards, Cox Industrial is one of a few industry players that competes on a national level due to its capacity, scale and breadth of treatment options.
