Reliance Steel & Aluminum to buy Georgia companies

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. announced December 6 that it has reached an agreement to acquire Industrial Metals and Surplus Inc., a metals service center company headquartered in Atlanta and a related company, Athens Steel Inc., located in Athens, Ga.

Industrial Metals was founded in 1978 and specializes in the processing and distribution of carbon steel structurals, flat-rolled and ornamental iron products. Industrial Metals’ net sales for the 2005 fiscal year were approximately $72 million. The management teams of Industrial Metals and Athens Steel are expected to remain in place. The transaction is expected to be finalized within 30 days. Terms were not disclosed.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., headquartered in Los Angeles, is one of the largest metals service center companies in the United States. Through a network of more than 160 locations in 37 states and Belgium, Canada, China and South Korea, the company provides value-added metals processing services and distributes a full line of over 90,000 metal products. These products include galvanized, hot-rolled and cold-finished steel; stainless steel; aluminum; brass; copper; titanium and alloy steel sold to more than 95,000 customers in various industries.