Walter Industries Inc. announced on Jan. 31 that its Mueller Water Products subsidiary purchased the operating assets of CCNE, LLC for approximately $8.8 million. Based in Vernon, CT, CCNE is a privately-held contract producer and distributor of check valves used in water and wastewater treatment and distribution systems. The CCNE operations and assets will be consolidated into Milliken Valve Co.'s Bethlehem, PA facility. Milliken is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mueller.

Earlier in January, Mueller acquired the stock of Hunt Industries Inc. for $6.8 million. Based in Murfreesboro, TN, Hunt is a privately held manufacturer of water meter pits and water meter yokes sold by Mueller.

Walter also announced that Mueller will close the Henry Pratt valve manufacturing facility in Dixon, IL by the end of 2006. The Dixon plant's operations will be transferred to other Pratt facilities. The Dixon plant manufactures various types of valves for water, wastewater and power generation facilities.

The move is part of a strategic plan by Walter Industries to capture the benefits of integrating its Mueller and U.S. Pipe businesses into a unified water products company.

Walter Industries Inc. is a diversified company with annual revenues of $2.7 billion. Interests include water infrastructure, flow control and water transmission products under brand names such as Mueller, U.S. Pipe, James Jones, Henry Pratt and Anvil.