ITT Industries announced on January 4 that it has signed an agreement to purchase Precision Stainless Inc., of Springfield, Mo.

Precision¿s main product offerings include custom-designed shop-fabricated vessels, field-fabricated tanks and related components, such as manways, tank heads and ferrules. These products are used in both the biopharmaceutical and food-beverage industries. Precision¿s vessel products complement ITT¿s Pure-Flo valves and process systems. The company employs 260 people.

"Both Pure-Flo and Precision Stainless are number one in their respective U.S. markets," said Al Calabria, president of Engineered Valves, the ITT Industries company that produces Pure-Flo products. "The addition of Precision¿s engineered products will strengthen the value of the solutions we provide to our biopharmaceutical customers and accelerate our growth in this segment."

According to Calabria, "Many of Precision¿s products utilize Pure-Flo¿s diaphragm valves, and the Pure-Flo process systems require vessels. The synergies between our product offerings are enormous."