Moving Metal

month Precision Strip purchased the assets of Worthington Steel’s processing facility in Vonore, Tennessee. The Vonore site began operating as a Precision Strip facility, providing toll processing and delivery of carbon steel, aluminum, and stainless steel products to customers in the Southeast. The addition brought the number of Precision Strip tolling facil- ities operating throughout the United States and Mexico to twelve. At mid-year, Reliance established an Australian subsid- iary, Bralco Metals (Australia) Pty Ltd. In July, Bralco Metals Australia purchased substantially all of the assets of Airport Metals (Australia) Pty Ltd, a Melbourne-based stocking dis- tributor of aircraft materials and supplies. Dave Hannah explained the rationale behind the move: “This strategic asset purchase will allow our existing Bralco Metals business to have a physical presence in the Australian market where they currently service aircraft and other key customers from our U.S. operations. This is our first entry into Australia and we are excited to leverage the strong reputation that Airport Metals has built in this area.” In October 2012, Reliance capped off these niche acqui- sitions with the purchase of another energy specialist, Sunbelt Steel Texas, with operations in Houston and Lafayette, Louisiana. That same month, Reliance subsidiary Feralloy Corporation acquired GH Metal Solutions, Inc., a carbon steel products processor and fabricator located in Fort Payne, Alabama. Altogether, these six acquisitions added $112 million to Reliance’s 2012 sales, creating another solid post-recession year. While demand for certain metals products waned late in the year due to continued economic and political uncertainty around the world, Reliance management was pleased with the

in twelve locations in seven countries including Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Reliance manage- ment believed that the acquisition was an excellent fit and noted that it “increased our exposure to the fast-growing energy market, expanded our product breadth to include Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) products, added valuable new processing services, such as CNC machining and threading, and expanded our presence into new international markets.” Given favorable credit markets and Reliance’s plan to continue to grow through investments in existing operations and acquisitions, Reliance amended and extended its credit line to $1.5 billion, with an option to increase it by $500 million if needed, and obtained lower interest rates. Sales for 2011 attained pre-recession levels, rising twenty-nine percent from the previous year to $8.1 billion. Net income climbed even further, up seventy-seven percent to $344 million. The next year, Reliance completed six acquisition deals. The first came on February 1, when Diamond Manufactur- ing acquired McKey Perforating Company, headquartered in New Berlin, Wisconsin, and its subsidiary, McKey Perfo- rated Products Co., Inc., located in Manchester, Tennessee. McKey was a venerable family-run business dating back to 1867. It was a founding member of the Industrial Perforating Association, its industry trade group, and well known for its perforating innovations and customer service. Then in April, Reliance acquired National Specialty Alloys, LLC (NSA), a global specialty alloy processor and distributor of premium stainless steel and nickel alloy bars and shapes, and a company that primarily served the energy market. NSA was headquar- tered in Houston and had additional locations in Anaheim, California; Buford, Georgia; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. That same

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