Tenaris said it will pay more than £900 million ($1.2 billion) to buy the Houston-based piping company IPSCO Tubulars.
Tenaris, which has is North American headquarters in Houston, will bolster its rapidly growing U.S. presence by acquiring IPSCO from its Russian parent company TMK.
In Texas, IPSCO has piping facilities in Baytown and Midland, but its headquarters and research and development center are in Houston. IPSCO employs close to 400 people in Houston and Baytown.
The companies specialize in manufacturing the piping and connections that go into oil and gas wells.
“Over the past 15 years, we have been expanding our manufacturing presence and positioning in the U.S. market,” said Tenaris Chief Executive Paolo Rocca. “This acquisition would mark a further step in our journey as a domestic producer and supplier to the U.S. oil and gas industry.”
In recent months, Rocca has touted Tenaris’ interest in continued U.S. expansion, including Texas. This deal gives Tenaris more steel-making capacity not subject to tariffs.
Tenaris has expanded rapidly in the Houston area in recent years, including opening a sprawling $1.8 billion pipe mill southwest of Houston in Bay City in 2017. Tenaris also reopened its Conroe plant last year.
IPSCO’s biggest presence is in Pennsylvania, where it has steel and pipe-making plants. IPSCO also counts facilities in Arkansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kentucky, Nevada and Canada.
Rocca noted IPSCO’s steel making would help feed the new Bay City plant.
Tenaris was founded in Italy by Rocca’s grandfather and later moved its main operations to Argentina. It’s formally headquartered in Luxembourg for tax purposes.
Rocca is currently facing bribery charges in Argentina, but Tenaris has downplayed the legal concerns.
Tenaris was virtually unheard of in Texas until just over decade ago, when it bought St. Louis-based Maverick Tube Corp. and Houston-based Hydril Co. for a combined $5 billion. In short order, Tenaris grew from about 50 Houston employees to more than 2,000.
This article first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner. For more from the Houston Chronicle click here.