Fibergrate Composite Structures Inc. of Dallas is expanding its footprint into Latin America with the acquisition of the fiberglass-reinforced plastics division of IKG Industries for an undisclosed cash payment.
``This will help us with our global expansion,'' Fibergrate President Marshall Liverman said in a telephone interview.
Fibergrate, a division of StonCor Group Inc., announced June 3 it is taking over the FRP line run by IKG in Queretaro, Mexico. Fibergrate has hired the 60 employees working on the line and is leasing part of the building until it finds a new site.
Liverman said the pultrusion line offers plenty of expansion opportunities for his company, which plans to stay in the Queretaro community.
Fibergrate, which started in 1966, makes molded fiberglass products for oil and gas, waste-water treatment, mining, pulp and paper, and military applications. FRP also is used to disguise cellular towers as church steeples, silos or even barns. The same product can be used on ships to disguise radar towers.
The company has administrative offices in Dallas, as well as a 125,000-square-foot facility in Stephenville, Texas. It also has a 200,000-square-foot plant in Vadodara, India, that supplies China and the rest of Asia.
``We make FRP - that's it,'' said Liverman, noting the Mexican operation will fit Fibergrate perfectly.
IKG concentrates on metal grating products. The FRP line no longer fits IKG's focus, said Kenneth Julian, a spokesman for Harsco Corp., IKG's parent.
Fibergrate and StonCor Group are part of RPM International Inc. of Medina, Ohio.
