Red-D-Arc, a venture offering rental welding, positioning and related services through more than 40 service centres in the US, Canada and Mexico, has expanded eastwards, acquiring A&N Plant in the UK and A&N Europe in the Netherlands.

Red-D-Arc, a venture offering rental welding, positioning and related services through more than 40 service centres in the US, Canada and Mexico, has expanded eastwards, acquiring A&N Plant in the UK and A&N Europe in the Netherlands.

The deal creates a new unit of Red-D-Arc, which is owned by Airgas, a US distributor of industrial, medical and speciality gases, and hard goods.

A&N Plant serves a diverse customer base in offshore and onshore oil and gas, petrochemicals, power generation and environmental industries.

Mitch Imielinksi, president at Red-D-Arc, commented: “Our goal is that A&N will serve as an important base as we expand our operations.”

Law firm Morgan Lewis advised Airgas on the acquisition, led by partner Keith Black, who commented: “Airgas is a long-standing client of Morgan Lewis, and the acquisition of the A&N Group represents its first outside the US. The teams in the US and the UK, working closely with our partners at Stek in the Netherlands, ensured an efficient and seamless closing in multiple jurisdictions.”

Stek was Dutch legal counsel to Airgas, led by partner Maarten van der Graaf, who commented: “The deal involved the simultaneous acquisition of UK and Dutch companies for which the financing also had to be arranged and put in place. The deal required us to cooperate closely with Airgas’s deal team and with their US and UK counsel.”