The Lawton Standard Co. has added American Iron & Alloys LLC, to the ferrous foundry “platform” it began assembling in 2020. The Waukesha, WI, business processes and distributes cast iron bars, bronze bars, and other metal parts, and provides finishing services to North American manufacturers.
The acquisition cost and other terms of the private transaction were not announced.
The business, which is known for its Versa-Bar brand of round, square, and rectangular bars, is focused on ductile iron, gray iron, and austempered iron grades, from 1.5 to 24 inches long, for customers that produce and machine, gray, ductile, and austempered iron castings up to 250 lbs. Bars are cut-to-length, tubed, milled, or slit to plate configurations.
“We have been exploring ways – both via acquisition and organically – to augment our production efforts and further serve the marketplace,” stated Alex Lawton, CEO of Lawton Standard. He called AIA “a great fit,” and added:
“Working with AIA and Versa-Bar is a springboard to our developing services, including a distribution arm. We will support AIA’s growth as it works to support our foundries and their customers.”
Lawton Standard is a holding company for seven ferrous foundries producing different ranges of castings in various iron and steel grades. The different operations also offer different finishing and machining services for their product lines.
In addition to American Iron & Alloys, the Lawton-Standard group of companies includes:
- C.A. Lawton Co., De Pere, WI;
- Temperform, Novi, MI;
- Damascus Steel Casting Co., New Brighton, PA;
- C.A. Lawton Co. - Minster, OH (formerly the foundry division of Nidec Minster);
- Penn-Mar Castings, Hanover, PA;
- QESC, Houston; and
- Northern Iron & Machine, St. Paul, MN.
“We had known of C.A. Lawton for many years as a foundry leader. They had even been a customer of AIA for their pattern shop materials,” according to Rick Janes, president of American Iron & Alloys. “Their strategy and focus on foundry-related businesses and locations were an obvious attraction for what I aspired to with AIA’s distribution capabilities.”