TPi January 2013

business & market news

New owner for Fine Tubes Fine Tubes Ltd has changed ownership in a deal that the company believes will bring opportunities to strengthen its position to pursue new horizons.

that can scale its production and grow alongside its customers.”

resources to our company that will be key to the next phase of our growth,” said Ronen Day, managing director. Fine Tubes is being acquired, along with its sister company in the USA, by The Watermill Group, a strategy-driven private investment firm. “Watermill was attracted to the unique and highly technical competencies at these companies,” saidStevenEKarol, founder and managing partner at The Watermill Group. “Our vision is to capitalise on the complementary strategic, technical and market strengths at each company to develop a thriving industry leader Norsok M-650 edition 4, IPP Scomark manufactures butt weld fittings in accordance with one of the oil and gas industries’ most demanding standards. The transition from edition 3 to edition 4 required more stringent manufacturing knowledge, procedures and practices. In gaining this accreditation IPP Scomark strengthens its position in the market place as a world class manufacturing facility.” Michael Hudson, group director of operations, commented, “IPP Scomark will now begin an aggressive

“2012 will see record revenues at Fine Tubes, which is a reflection of the strong global demand for our specialised products,” said Brian Mercer, sales and marketing director. “Our change in ownership takes us into a new and exciting chapter, with the opportunity to realise some of the increasingly global prospects for our products.”

Over the past five to ten years Fine Tubes has re-invented its business and is now a leader in high specification, engineered tubing for challenging applications in the aerospace, nuclear, medical and oil and gas industries. This has led to strong growth and has provided high quality engineering manufacturing jobs in Plymouth, UK. Fine Tubes currently employs around 380 people. “Our new owners bring

Fine Tubes Ltd – UK sales@fine-tubes.co.uk www.finetubes.com IPP Scomark gains Norsok M-650 edition 4

move to increase manufacturing capacity, to include larger seamless and welded butt weld fittings and forged flange components.” IPP Group is a stockholder and manufacturer of Duplex, Super Duplex, 6Mo and nickel alloys, supplying pipe, tube, flanges, BW fittings and forged fittings to the oil, gas, petrochemical, nuclear and shipbuilding industries. International Piping Products – UK sales@ippgrp.com www.ippgrp.com

IPP Group has announced that IPP Scomark has successfully achieved Norsok M-650 edition 4 accreditation. This maintains the IPP Scomark presence on the prestigious Statoil Approved Vendor List. The Norsok standards are developed by the Norwegian Petroleum Industry to ensure safety, and add value and cost effectiveness for the petroleum industry developments andoperations. From IPP Group head office Andy Rigby, group Norsok manager, commented, “By working in line with

Luvata breaks ground on coil-coating plant Luvata, a leader in metal solution manufacturing, heat transfer technology and engineering and design services, has broken ground on its latest facility – a coatings plant in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, Mexico. The plant will offer two proven protective coatings for HVACR equipment: ElectroFin ® E-coat and Luvata Insitu ® . ElectroFin E-Coat provides corrosion protection coating for coastal environments. area is also home to Lennox International, Carrier de Mexico and Whirlpool. “Our new location in Ramos Arizpe complements its sister facilities in Monterrey and Juarez in meeting the growing needs of our customers in Mexico,” said Luvata CEO John Peter Leesi. “Our ability to provide a wide range of product solutions within the HVACR industry will help to maintain Luvata’s position as the supplier of choice for our customers.” loading docks and one ground level drive-in door that can accommodate a full-size tractor and trailer. The plant is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2013 and Luvata estimates 45 employees will be needed to operate the plant at full capacity. Luvata Ramos joins Luvata’s two other full service coil-coating centres in Louisville, Kentucky and Jacksonville, Texas in offering the factory-applied corrosion solution ElectroFin E-coat, as well as the spray applied coil corrosion protection Insitu.

The new facility, located 40 miles from an existing Luvata facility in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, is the company’s fifteenth facility in North America. Conveniently located between Monterrey and Saltillo off the Monterrey bypass highway #40, this

Construction of the new multi-million dollar facility includes 50,000ft 2 of manufacturing space and 7,000ft 2 of office space. The building will have four

Luvata – USA www.luvata.com

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Tube Products International January 2013

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