Moving Metal

profile among the manufacturers in the global electronics industry. Reliance resumed its acquisitions in April 2008, when its Tacoma-based subsidiary Service Steel Aerospace Corp. acquired Dynamic Metals International, located in Bristol, Connecticut. In September, Reliance bought the inventory, machinery, and equipment of the Singapore operation of HLN Metal Center Pte. Ltd., which served the electronics, semiconductor, and solar energy markets. The operation was renamed Reliance Metalcenter Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. Both of these acquisitions—in fact, nearly all of the previous acquisitions—were dwarfed by the purchase of the PNA Group Holding Corporation that year. The company was assembled by a private equity firm seeking to duplicate Reliance’s strategy of combining smaller service centers into a

and to build up its presence in Asia. Valex President and COO Dan Mangan had good reason to keep his eye on the fore- casts regarding the rapidly changing industry. Mangan was convinced “that China would eventually become the largest market for our semiconductor, LCD, and solar customers and would also serve as a lower-cost manufacturing platform for export to other markets.” Reliance moved quickly. In December 2007, Valex opened a new plant in the People’s Republic of China, named Valex China Co. Ltd. Located in the Nanhui district of Shanghai, Valex China was 100- percent-owned by the Hong Kong joint venture company Valex Holdings Ltd., which in turn was eighty-eight-percent- owned by Valex Corp. The new company produced ultra-high purity tubes, fittings, and valves for the semiconductor, LCD, and solar industries, and the new operation raised Valex’s

Reminiscent of modern sculpture, these shapes were turned out for customers by Precision Flamecutting and Steel of Houston, Texas, acquired by Reliance with PNA in 2008.

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