Cleveland steel firm acquires Conway, Tulsa facilities

Olympic Steel Inc., a leading national metals service center, today announced that it has acquired Central Tube & Bar of Conway. The all-cash purchase is expected to be immediately accretive. Terms were not disclosed.

Central Tube & Bar was founded in 1996 and serves large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and fabricators across the Mid-South from three facilities in Conway, Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, totaling 162,000 square feet of warehouse and production space.

The business offers a range of value-added fabrication services, including tube laser cutting, tube bending, robotic welding, flat laser burning and brake press forming.

Central Tube & Bar services the transportation, agricultural, commercial furniture and data center construction industries with fabricated tube and bar products, including round, square, rectangular and special shaped tubes. The business will continue to operate as Central Tube & Bar, an Olympic Steel Company, led by Dustin Ward, President.

“The acquisition of Central Tube & Bar represents our latest strategic move to invest in consistently high-performing businesses. We are delighted to welcome Dustin Ward and his capable team to the Olympic Steel family,” said Richard T. Marabito, Chief Executive Officer. “Olympic Steel’s tubular and pipe products segment has historically been our highest EBITDA-to-sales margin segment, and CTB’s historical financial performance has consistently exceeded our tubular and pipe products returns. CTB is a well-run, growing organization, and a great cultural fit for Olympic Steel.”

“In addition to expanding our geographic reach into the high-growth markets in the Mid-South, Central Tube & Bar extends our value-added contract manufacturing capabilities,” said Andrew Greiff, President and Chief Operating Officer. “The addition of CTB into our tubular and pipe products segment, combined with the existing success of our Chicago Tube & Iron business, provides great opportunities for growth and synergies.”

Central Tube & Bar will be included in Olympic Steel’s tubular and pipe products segment, led by William Zielinski, President – Chicago Tube & Iron.

Following the acquisition of Central Tube & Bar, Olympic Steel’s total debt under its revolving credit facility is approximately $234 million, with availability of approximately $359 million, leaving significant capital to continue its diversification strategy through investments in additional acquisitions, new capacity and increased efficiency through automation to deliver shareholder value.

Founded in 1954, Cleveland-based Olympic Steel is a leading U.S. metals service center focused on the direct sale and value-added processing of carbon and coated sheet, plate, and coil products; stainless steel sheet, plate, bar and coil; aluminum sheet, plate and coil; pipe, tube, valves and fittings; and tin plate.