McJunkin Corp. (Charleston, W. Va.), Cameron & Barkley (Charles-ton, S.C.) and their joint venture McJunkin-Cambar have signed an agreement to acquire certain assets of 18 Fairmont Supply Co. industrial-supply branches and stores-management sites. The purchase involves Fairmont locations in Niagara, N.Y.; Parkersburg and Charleston, W. Va.; Circleville, Ohio; Wilmington, Del.; Mobile, Ala.; Beaumont, Houston and Victoria, Texas; Ponchartrain, La.; and Chattanooga, Nashville and Memphis, Tenn.
The 18 sites involved in the sale represent half of Fairmont's total of 36 facilities. Fifteen of the facilities are bricks-and-mortar locations, which will be owned by McJunkin or Cameron & Barkley; the others are in-plant arrangements. The three acquirers will continue to serve DuPont and other customers from either the existing Fairmont branches or, in Chattanooga and Nashville, McJunkin's and Cameron & Barkley's own facilities.
Fairmont Supply is owned by CONSOL Energy Inc., which was formerly owned by DuPont.
"These Fairmont sites originally were established to serve the industrial-supply needs of various DuPont chemical plants at a time when CONSOL Energy was part of DuPont," said J. Brett Harvey, president and chief executive officer of CONSOL. "Most of these sites still serve only DuPont. However, we no longer have the overarching corporate relationship."
McJunkin, Cameron & Barkley and McJunkin-Cambar were interested in the Fairmont facilities because of their customer base, said Paul Buechler, vice president/finance for McJunkin. "They serve the process industries, in which DuPont is the biggest customer," he said.
Fairmont plans to focus on its core competencies, with an emphasis on expanding its role in the mining and energy industries.
In other news, Fairmont announced that it has moved its headquarters from Washington, Pa. The new address is 401 Technology Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317; the new telephone number is 724/514-3900.
