Praxair Acquires Welders Industrial Supply

Praxair Distribution, Inc., a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX), has acquired Welders Industrial Supply, LLC of Pasadena, Texas. WIS, founded in 2009 by Ernest W. "Cotton" Speed III, is an independent distributor of industrial and specialty gases, welding equipment, supplies and related services to customers in the greater Houston, Texas, area. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

WIS operates from a newly constructed retail and cylinder filling plant facility in Pasadena, Texas. The company has approximately $4 million in annual revenue and 10 employees.

"Cotton Speed and his family have a long, successful track record of owning and growing gas distributorships throughout Texas. We look forward to further strengthening our ability to meet customer requirements through his and his team’s in-depth knowledge of the Texas market,” said John Panikar, president of Praxair Distribution.

"Our employees are dedicated to delivering quality products and services to our customers," said Cotton Speed. "I am confident that combining our business with Praxair will benefit our employees and will enable us to provide an even broader array of products and services to our customers.”

The WIS acquisition follows Praxair Distribution's acquisition of Houston-based independent distributors Texas Welders Supply Company and National Alloy in December and August 2011, respectively. Houston is among the top five welding markets in the U.S.

Praxair, Inc. is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2010 sales of $10 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric and process gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies are making our planet more productive by bringing efficiency and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and others. More information on Praxair is available on the Internet at www.praxair.com.