AZZ Buys Acme to Expand Midwest Presence

The deal will extend the reach of Fort Worth, Texas-based AZZ into the Midwest, the company said. “With the acquisition of Acme, AZZ enhances its scope of metal coating services in the Midwest with the addition of four advanced, fully automated zinc plating lines and a totally enclosed galvanizing kettle,” said AZZ Metal Coatings President and Chief Operating Officer Bryan L. Stovall.

Acme’s 80,000-square-foot facility in Milwaukee will operate under the name “AZZ Galvanizing and Plating – Milwaukee.” Its addition will boost AZZ’s network of North American hot-dip galvanizing sites to 40, the company said. Founded in 1919, Acme has been in the metal coating business for more than 100 years.

AZZ has gone on a buying spree in recent years with other purchases including Dallas-Fort Worth area powder coating company Preferred Industries, Jasper, Tenn.-based galvanizer Tennessee Galvanizing, and electroplating company NuZinc, also located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The deal for Acme comes during a period of historically high prices for steel sheet, including prices for hot-dipped galvanized material.