Cleveland—Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: LECO) announced in March 2012 that it had acquired Weartech International, Inc., a privately-held producer of cobalt-based hard facing and wear-resistant welding consumables.

Weartech is headquartered in Anaheim, Calif., with manufacturing plants in Anaheim and Port Talbot, Wales. The company has annual sales of approximately $40 million and employs 140 people combined at both locations.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In announcing the acquisition, John M. Stropki, Lincoln Electric Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: "The acquisition of Weartech is a continuation of our ongoing strategy to expand the breadth of our consumable product portfolio to better service our global customer base. Weartech is well positioned globally in the specialized cobalt welding consumable market, selling primarily to the high growth energy and process chemical segments. We expect strong growth in these segments and believe the Weartech product line will help expand and deepen our relationships with key global customers."

"Over the past 20 years, Weartech has provided technical solutions to customers facing wear problems both in the United States and internationally," said Patrick Iyer, President of Weartech. "Joining with Lincoln will significantly expand our distribution network and our ability to reach these customers worldwide. Our management team, with more than 150 years of combined experience, is looking forward to becoming part of Lincoln Electric and continuing to serve our customers around the world."