Houston-based Merfish Pipe & Supply recently announced it has purchased the assets of Kloeckner Metals’ master pipe distribution business located in Lakeland, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., Houston, Stockton, Calif., and Fontana, Calif.

Merfish is a 96-year-old master distributor of carbon-steel pipe, fittings and flanges serving distributors in the United States. Merfish’s products included carbon-steel welded and seamless pipe, carbon-steel seamless pipe fittings and carbon-steel forged flanges. Merfish is a wholly owned subsidiary of Merfish Pipe Holdings, which is majority owned by One Equity partners.

“Our acquisition of the assets of Kloeckner Metals’ master pipe distribution business marks a new and exciting chapter for Merfish as we combine two master distributors of carbon-steel pipe,” Merfish Holdings CEO Gerald Merfish said. “We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to acquire the assets of a company like Kloeckner Metals’ master pipe distribution business, which has an incredible history and reputation spanning more than 35 years.”

Merfish Vice President and General Manager Robert Setzekorn added: “With the purchase of Kloeckner Metals’ master pipe distribution assets, coupled with our already industry-leading facilities in Philadelphia and Houston, Merfish now can serve 48 states across the U.S. We now have five operating points of distribution, which allows us to grow and more efficiently serve our customers. Merfish is committed to providing our industry-leading, unparalleled level of service from each of these locations.”

Merfish sells to distributors that serve the commercial construction, industrial construction, residential construction and steel/structural fabrication end markets.

Kloeckner Metals Corp., is headquartered in Roswell, Ga., and consists of three business segments: Flat Rolled Group, Heavy Carbon Group and Special Products Group. The core business of Kloeckner Metals is the warehousing, processing and distribution of steel and nonferrous metals. The customers are supplied from 50 distribution locations by about 2,500 employees.