Evraz Completes IPSCO Canadian Acquisition
Evraz Group S.A. announced that it has completed its acquisition of IPSCO's Canadian plate and pipe business. Evraz announced the acquisition of IPSCO Tubulars from SSAB in March 2008. After a back-to-back transaction that consisted of an on-sale of the acquired IPSCO's U.S. businesses to TMK for U.S. $1.25 billion, the total cash consideration paid by Evraz for the assets amounted approximately to U.S. $2.9 billion. In addition, Evraz expects to sell the remaining acquired U.S. businesses of IPSCO Tubulars to TMK for approximately $0.5 billion in 2009. Following the latest transaction, Evraz announced its North American subsidiary will now operate under the name, Evraz Inc. NA. The new name impacts the North American headquarters in Portland, OR and all eight production facilities in the U.S. and Canada.

Victaulic Hires VP of Product Development
Victaulic announced that Dr. Richard Bucher has joined Victaulic as vice president of product development in its Engineering Department.  Before joining Victaulic, Bucher was global business leader with W.L. Gore & Associates, where he recently led a business unit within the Medical Products Division. Prior to that, he led multiple business units within Gore's Industrial Products Division.

CE Franklin Acquires Unnamed Oil Field Distributor
On June 1, Canadian energy products distributor CE Franklin Ltd.  announced that it had acquired an unidentified business that operates 22 oil field equipment supply stores across the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Seventeen of the stores are in locations served by existing CE Franklin supply houses and will be integrated. The acquisition adds about 10% to company revenues.

Ken Ward Joins American Industrial
Ken Ward recently joined American Industrial Supply , Perth Amboy, NJ, as an account manager for industrial PVF.  He has 20 years of experience in the PVF business, most recently as a sales rep for stainless steel tubing manufacturer Greenville Tubing, calling on large distribution facilities and OEMs.

Velan Opens New Distribution Center
Velan has opened a new distribution center in Granby, Quebec. The new location will replace the current Velnorth facility in Williston, VT. Inventory from the former Velnorth facility is being transferred to other U.S. locations in Benicia, CA and Marietta, GA.

Valero Suspends $1.7 Billion Refinery Project
Construction contractors and suppliers in the Southwest received a heavy blow with the announcement that Valero Energy Corp. is suspending a planned $1.7 billion expansion project at its refinery in Port Arthur, TX. The news coincides with an announcement by Valero that it has acquired a 45% stake in a refinery in the Netherlands. A Valero spokesman noted that the Netherlands deal cost Valero $600 million, plus $125 million in working capital, a significant savings over the anticipated cost of the Port Arthur facility.

Electricity From Head Pressure Breakthrough Announced
Northwest Pipe Co. and Lucid Energy Technologies  announced successful preliminary testing of a renewable power-generation prototype called Northwest PowerPipe(TM). The system is designed for installation in new or existing water transmission pipelines, and when fully developed will enable utilities to capture untapped energy from normal pipeline operations without disrupting power flow by transforming excess head pressure into electricity. It is anticipated the systems will be available in 2010.

Cameron To Acquire NATCO
Cameron and Natco Group have entered into an agreement under which Cameron will acquire NATCO in an all-stock transaction that values NATCO at approximately $780 million. NATCO is a leading provider of process equipment, systems and services to the worldwide oil and gas industry that generated revenues of more than $650 million during 2008. The deal is expected to close during the 3rd quarter of 2009.