July 30, 2009 (FinancialWire) — Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LECO) said that its Asian subsidiary has acquired 100% control of Jinzhou Jin Tai Welding and Metal Co., Ltd., a welding wire business in Jinzhou, China.

Lincoln had owned 48% of Jin Tai, and the remaining 52% was held by Taiwan-based Kuang Tai Metal Industrial Co., Ltd. and other partners. Jin Tai’s annualized sales for the first half of 2009 were around $130 million, according to Lincoln.

Under the deal, Lincoln acquired Jin Tai by exchanging its 35% ownership interest in Kuang Tai, paying cash of around $39 million and assuming net debt of around $10 million.

The company said that completing the acquisition allows Lincoln to focus its resources on growing the company’s position in China, the largest welding market in the world in terms of volumes.

Cleveland-based Lincoln Electric is engaged in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc-welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market.

Lincoln has 39 manufacturing locations, including operations and joint ventures in 19 countries and a network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries.

FinancialWire(tm) is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service. FinancialWire(tm) is not a press release service, and receives no compensation for its news, opinions or distributions. Further disclosure is at the FinancialWire(tm) web site (http://www.financialwire.net/disclosures.php). Contact FinancialWire(tm) directly via inquiries@financialwire.net.

Free annual reports for companies mentioned in the news are available through the Free Annual Reports Service (http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279).

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.