Wieland buys US tube company Wolverine
GERMANY/USA: German copper tube manufacturer Wieland-Werke has bought US company Wolverine Tube.
Founded in 1916, Wolverine Tube is headquartered in Decatur, Alabama, and has production facilities in Ardmore, Tennessee, and Shawnee, Oklahoma. It also operates a sales and marketing office in the Netherlands.
Both Wieland and Wolverine are major suppliers to the air conditioning and refrigeration industry. .
“With this takeover, we are pursuing our strategy of further expanding the Wieland Group’s global market position,” commented Wieland Group chairman Dr Erwin Mayr. “At the same time, we are expanding our range of high-quality and technically sophisticated products.”
“Our customers will profit from a global network of production sites and unique competences and services in the field of thermal technology,” explained Bernd Graßhof, Wieland Thermal Solutions, Wieland Group.
The two companies have had previous connections. In 2008 Wieland paid $9.5m for a 30% stake in Wolverine’s Chinese subsidiary Wolverine Tube (Shanghai). The joint venture was set up to manufacture and distribute enhanced tubes as a primary component of large air conditioning and refrigeration systems in the AsiaPacific region. The company has been a wholly-owned Wieland Group subsidiary since 2013.
In 2010, the two companies announced the formation of Wolverine/Wieland Heat Transfer Technologies to develop “innovative and energy efficient” heat transfer technology.
