Copperweld
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electrical cable manufacturing, Metallurgy |
| Founded | 1915 in Rankin, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Founder | S. E. Bramer, Jacob Roth, F. R. S. Kaplan, Simon Loeb, William Smith, Sr. |
| Headquarters | Fayetteville, Tennessee , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Fu Li (Chairman, as of 2012), David S. Jones (former owner of Copperweld Bimetallics LLC) |
| Products | Copper-clad steel wire (CCS), copper-clad aluminum wire (CCA), bimetallic wire and electrical cables |
Number of employees | 3500 (circa 1999) |
| Parent | Kinderhook Industries LLC (since 2019) |
Copperweld is a U.S.-based corporation with its main headquarters located in Fayetteville, Tennessee and a management office situated in Brentwood, Tennessee. The company focuses on producing wire and stranded electrical cables under the Copperweld brand, specializing in copper-clad steel (CCS) and copper-clad aluminum (CCA) products. Its operations extend worldwide, with manufacturing plants in Telford, England, and a distribution hub in Liège, Belgium.
Origins
Established in 1915 by engineers S. E. Bramer, Jacob Roth, F. R. S. Kaplan, Simon Loeb, and William Smith, Sr., in Rankin, Pennsylvania, Copperweld was a pioneer in creating a metallurgical bond between copper and steel through a molten welding technique. This breakthrough resulted in CCS wire that combined superior tensile strength compared to solid copper wire while retaining electrical conductivity. Initially, the wire’s corrosion resistance made it ideal for watch springs. The company was originally named the Copper-Clad Steel Company, changing to Copperweld Steel Company in 1924.
In 1927, Copperweld moved its operations to an old axe factory located in Glassport, Pennsylvania. The company went public with an IPO in 1929 but later repurchased its shares. Throughout the Great Depression and World War II, government contracts played a crucial role in sustaining the business. Copperweld was listed on the New York Curb Exchange in 1937 and advanced to the New York Stock Exchange by 1940, maintaining this status until 1999.
By 1939, Copperweld had expanded by opening a second manufacturing plant in Warren, Ohio, focusing on producing steel billets to support its expanding product range.
Expansion and diversification after WWII
Post-World War II economic growth in the United States provided Copperweld with opportunities for expansion. The company’s leadership moved from Glassport to downtown Pittsburgh, prioritizing investments in existing units alongside acquisitions to fuel growth. In 1951, Copperweld acquired Flexo Wire Co. based in Oswego, New York. The following year, it entered the steel tube market by purchasing Ohio Seamless Tubing Company. A merger with Superior Steel Company in 1957 broadened its stainless steel finishing capabilities; however, this division was sold off five years later due to unsatisfactory performance.
In collaboration with Battelle Memorial Institute, Copperweld introduced Alumoweld®—an aluminum-coated steel wire—in 1959. This product’s success paved the way for Copperweld’s first international joint venture in 1966: Japan Alumoweld Company, where it held a 45% stake alongside Fujikura Ltd. In 1972, acquisition of Regal Tube from Lear-Siegler in Chicago further diversified its offerings.
Rebranding and further growth
To reflect its expanding business scope, the company adopted the name Copperweld Corporation in 1973. It broadened its product lines to include primary and secondary metallurgical goods such as steel pipe and tube; bimetallic wire, strand, and strip; steel bars and plates; solder; and skiving products. Its operations now spanned the United States, Canada, Japan, and Britain. The bimetallic technology extended beyond copper-steel combinations to incorporate metals and alloys like aluminum, tin, brass, gold, nickel, and silver.
In 1974, Copperweld launched a CCA wire manufacturing facility known as Copperweld Southern in Fayetteville, Tennessee, which became the central hub for its bimetallic wire production.
Takeover
In 1975, the French investment firm Imétal S.A. (currently known as Imerys), under the control of the Rothschild family, acquired a majority stake in Copperweld Corporation. This event represented the first instance of a foreign entity executing a hostile takeover of an American company. Imétal committed to maintaining Copperweld's existing business approach without disruption.
Copperweld extended its bimetallic wire manufacturing operations to Campinas, Brazil in 1978 through a joint venture with Erico International Corp., eventually gaining full ownership by 1981. That same year, the Glassport plant underwent workforce reductions affecting 548 employees, prompting local government initiatives aimed at preserving the facility.
In pursuit of diversified income sources, Copperweld Energy was launched in 1980, investing in Houston-based Guardian Oil Company to secure natural gas supplies for its Ohio and Pennsylvania plants. Additionally, Copperweld acquired American Seamless Tubing located in Baltimore, Maryland that year.
A landmark legal decision came in 1984 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp. that a parent company cannot conspire with its wholly owned subsidiary, marking a significant victory for Copperweld.
The steel industry downturn during the late 1970s and early 1980s heavily affected Copperweld: the Glassport facility was shuttered in 1983; the fine wire division in Oswego closed in 1986; and operations were consolidated at Copperweld Southern in Fayetteville to take advantage of lower labor costs in the Southern United States.
Two Copperwelds
In 1986, Imétal separated Copperweld's Warren, Ohio operations into a new publicly traded entity named CSC Industries, which continued as Copperweld Steel Company. This resulted in two separate companies both carrying the "Copperweld" name for a period.
Imétal’s approach proved effective as Copperweld Corporation returned to profitability within a year, whereas CSC Industries failed to generate profits and filed for bankruptcy in 1993. Hamlin Holdings acquired its assets in 1995 and subsequently retired the Copperweld brand.
During the late 1980s, Copperweld Corporation divested its Brazilian operations and Baltimore tubing facility while investing $90 million to modernize its Shelby, Ohio plant and constructing a new tube plant in Birmingham, Alabama. The purchase of National Standard Company's Copperply division further strengthened its position in bimetallic wire production.
In 1989, Copperweld partnered with Fujikura to establish the United States Alumoweld Company joint venture in Duncan, South Carolina, but divested this operation by selling its shares and brand rights back to Fujikura in 1992.
The 1990s brought additional acquisitions within the tubing sector including Miami Industries (1993) and Canadian companies Standard Tube Canada and Sonco Steel Tube (1997). The Shelby facility was expanded again in 1997, followed by the opening of a stainless steel tubing plant in Elizabethtown, Kentucky in 1998.
The bimetallic wire segment leveraged growing cellular phone demand by acquiring Metallon Engineered Materials Corporation (1995), expanding the Fayetteville site (1997), and purchasing Sayton Fine Wires based in England (1998).
LTV
In 1999, Cleveland-based LTV Steel purchased Copperweld Corporation from Imétal for $650 million, rebranding it as LTV Copperweld. At that time, it was North America's leading producer of structural steel tubing with 23 manufacturing plants and a workforce of 3,500. Despite this scale, LTV faced significant debt burdens and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the close of 2000.
Although LTV entered bankruptcy proceedings, LTV Copperweld remained profitable and secured separate debtor-in-possession financing from GE Commercial Finance. The company successfully exited bankruptcy protection by late 2003.
Dofasco
Currently part of Arcelor Mittal, Dofasco acquired the majority of LTV Copperweld's holdings, including a 50% stake in the bimetallic wire segment. This segment was divested in 2006 to North Carolina entrepreneur David S. Jones for $14.2 million and operated under the name Copperweld Bimetallics LLC. It remained the sole unit to continue using the Copperweld brand and trademark associated with copper-clad steel conductors.
Fushi
In August 2007, Fushi International, established by Li Fu in 2001, acquired Copperweld for $22.5 million. This transaction represented a notable Chinese investment in Tennessee, broadening Fushi’s international reach and product offerings to include CCS wire. Three months following the acquisition, Fushi International went public on the Nasdaq and adopted the name Fushi Copperweld, capitalizing on the recognition of the Western brand.
By December 2012, a consortium led by Chairman Fu Li took the company private once more, resulting in its delisting from Nasdaq.
Kinderhook
In October 2019, Copperweld was purchased by Kinderhook Industries LLC, a private investment firm managing assets exceeding $3.1 billion. Kinderhook emphasized Copperweld’s proprietary manufacturing capabilities and unique product lines as essential factors driving growth prospects, particularly within the automotive industry.
Locations and subsidiaries
- Copperweld Bimetallics LLC, Fayetteville, Tennessee (established 1975, acquired 2007)
- Copperweld Bimetallics UK Ltd., Telford, England (formerly Sayton Fine Wire, founded 1998, acquired 2007)
- Copperweld Bimetallics Europe SPRL, Liège, Belgium (established 2011)
Products
Copperweld produces bimetallic wire and electrical cable that combine two metals to leverage their respective advantages. Its primary product, CCS (copper-clad steel wire), integrates steel’s durability with copper’s electrical conductivity. Since 1963, Copperweld has utilized a pressure-rolling technique for manufacturing CCS wire, improving both production efficiency and product quality. Another important offering is CCA (copper-clad aluminum), which provides a lighter and more flexible alternative to pure copper.
In 2013, Copperweld Bimetallics LLC expanded its U.S. presence by acquiring significant assets from its main domestic competitor, CommScope’s Bimetals division, consolidating operations at its Fayetteville facility in Tennessee.