Western Tube Joins Wheatland in Zeckleman Portfolio

Jan. 3, 2017
The company will continue to offer customers products under both the Wheatland and Western brands.

Wheatland Tube & Conduit’s parent company Zekelman Industries, Chicago, (formerly JMC Steel Group), added Western Tube & Conduit to its lineup of metal conduit and fencing businesses in a deal announced last month. Zekelman has entered into a definitive agreement with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., Tokyo, Japan, and other minority shareholders of Western Tube & Conduit for Wheatland Tube to purchase the Long Beach, CA-based conduit and steel tube manufacturer. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, said in a release that the company will continue to offer customers products under both the Wheatland and Western brands. Jelani Rucker, VP of marketing and business development for Zekelman, said the move will boost Zekelman in markets of the western U.S. “The advantage for us is to expand Zekelman Industries’ reach into the western U.S.,” he said, adding that Wheatland has been serving those markets but in a limited capacity due to geographic proximity.

Rucker confirmed that the two brands’ agency representation will continue without changes under the Zekelman umbrella. Besides Wheatland Tube, Zekelman’s lineup of brands includes Atlas Tube, Picoma, Energex Tube, Sharon Tube and Z Modular.