Charlotte-based Nucor, the largest U.S. steelmaker, agreed to purchase a Wisconsin producer of steel doors for $565 million.
Rytec makes and sells high-speed, high-performance commercial doors and has about 300 employees and two manufacturing facilities. It is based in Jackson, about 30 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
Its rolling doors are used in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, auto dealerships, and parking garages, as well as durable fabric doors for cold storage/food and beverage, manufacturing, and clean room applications.
“This acquisition further executes our strategy to expand beyond our core steelmaking businesses into related downstream businesses,” said Nucor Chief Executive Leon Topalian in a statement. “Adding high-performance doors will create cross-selling opportunities with other Nucor businesses and greatly expand Nucor’s product portfolio.”
Two years ago, Nucor bought C.H.I. Overhead Doors for $3 billion. C.H.I. makes overhead doors for residential and commercial markets in the United States and Canada and has 800 employees in two manufacturing plants in Arthur, Illinois, and Terre Haute, Indiana. The company has warehouses are in California, Colorado, New Hampshire and New Jersey.
“The combination of Rytec with C.H.I. Overhead Doors will create an overhead door platform that will deliver superior product breadth and solutions to Nucor’s commercial customers,” said Nucor’s Chad Utermark, executive vice president of new markets and innovation
In 1985, Paul Reilly Jr. founded Rytec in Addison, Illinois. Under a license agreement with Labex GmbH (later a division of the Hörmann Group), Rytec made high-speed folding doors in the United States. Donald P. Grasso and Fred Turner purchased Rytec in 1994.
Nucor’s shares fell $2.27 to $166.58 in Monday morning trading. The company’s market capitalization is $40 billion.
