Walter Surface Technologies acquires Aerochem, ArcOne

In late February and early March Walter Surface Technologies announced the purchase of two companies: Quebec-based Aerochem and Taunton, Mass.-based ArcOne.

ArcOne is a manufacturer of industrial safety products including auto-darkening welding helmets, filters, glasses, and goggles.

“We are renowned at Walter for producing products that are extremely safe, safer than the average in the industry,” said Marc-André Aubé, CEO of Walter in an interview with Canadian Fabricating & Welding. “That’s why some customers choose to work with our products: because they are over-designed to better protect the end user. With this reputation we felt there was a missing part in our offering – we didn’t sell any protective equipment. It was natural to expand in this direction.”

Aubé also noted that ArcOne’s team has know-how that complements Walter’s safety seminar program, which it offers to its customers throughout Canada and the U.S.

Aerochem designs, produces, and distributes a variety of lubricants, greases, specialized electrical cleaners/degreasers, anti-corrosion products, as well as other industrial fluids and oils created for the food industry and the industrial sector.

“We feel the marketplace needs safer and greener types of products,” said Aubé. “There are a lot of products being used in the industrial sector that have a lot of negative potential side effects to their use. More and more end users are concerned about the environmental impact of the products they use and the effect on their own health. We feel that our Walter green cleaning solutions and other Walter products have a much better health and safety and environmental profile. We want to accelerate the growth of that market segment because we feel the market is ready for cleaner products that work well. Aerochem fits right into that. It is a small local company that is very innovative with products that mostly fit our environmental promise to our end users – cleaning products, water based in many cases – and it will complement our offering by introducing products we currently don’t produce.

“But also, many Aerochem products are currently only available in Quebec, the Maritimes, and parts of Ontario,” he continued. “With the Walter network we plan to offer them to all of our Canadian and U.S. customers.”

Walter has sufficient capacity in its Pointe-Claire, Que. facility that Aerochem’s manufacturing will be moved there over the next few weeks. ArcOne will continue to operate out of its Taunton facility but will also benefit from the broader market reach of its parent company.

Growth through acquisition is comparatively new for Walter.

“I started with Walter in January 2017 with the mission to put in place a growth plan for the company,” said Aubé. “Walter had very high-quality products, but it was family owned and its mission had been to grow at a moderate pace. In the past few years our growth plan was to reach more end users and to make a difference in their lives. So we planned to expand production and capacity and reach a broader audience, and we did so.”

When the Walter family decided to sell the majority of the company to a Canadian private equity firm, ONCAP, the speed of growth became more important, and the search for acquisition targets began. ArcOne and Aerochem were two that made sense for the diversification of the company.