In a deal involving two neighboring screw makers in Florida, Barrel & Screw International Corp. has purchased Arrow Machine and Weld Inc.
The companies are about five miles apart in Rockledge, Fla. Terms were not disclosed.
Barrel & Screw announced the deal July 29. The acquisition follows a major investment earlier this year by BSI that added metalworking machines and doubled its plant size to about 12,000 square feet. BSI has invested nearly $1 million this year on the expansion and acquisition.
BSI President Bob Essery said his firm and Arrow, though located in the same town, had very few crossover customers.
BSI plans to close the Arrow plant in November or December and move the machine shop to the newly expanded BSI headquarters, Essery said.
Essery said the firm will have sales this year of about $1 million, from making new screws and repairing existing screws for injection molding and extrusion. BSI buys bimetallic barrels from Wexco Corp.
Essery said he expects sales to hit $1.5 million in 2003. Processors are shaking off the recession and buying replacement screws, he said, adding he expects demand for screws and barrels to continue strengthening next year.
``Sales are exceeding expectations and creating a demand for expansion,'' Essery said. ``We began exploring financial alternatives at the beginning of the year to help with growth.''
BSI also is picking up business in Latin America. The company will exhibit at the Plastimagen trade show, Sept. 3-6 in Mexico City. BSI also will exhibit at NPE 2003 in Chicago.
Including the Arrow acquisition, BSI now employs 10.