Valmont Continues Geographic Expansion of North America Coatings Footprint

OMAHA, Neb., Feb. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE: VMI), a leading global provider of engineered products and services for infrastructure development and irrigation equipment and services for agriculture, today announced that it has acquired 100% of the outstanding shares of United Galvanizing, Inc. located in Houston, Texas. The transaction was funded with cash on hand, and is expected to be accretive to earnings in Year 1.

Employing approximately 150 people, United provides hot-dip zinc galvanizing and CorroCote services that will support Valmont's steel structures manufacturing facilities in Brenham, Texas and Monterrey, Mexico, as well as custom work in the surrounding markets. Two structural kettles with working lengths of 41.5 feet and 60 feet, have a combined annual capacity of 80,000 tons, with flexibility to service a broad range of products. United's 2018 full-year revenues were approximately $21 million.

Valmont also today announced the construction of a new hot-dip zinc galvanizing facility in Midland, Pennsylvania, approximately 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Construction at the 11-acre site is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2019, and be fully operational by early 2020. As a result of the United acquisition, the 54-foot kettle currently at Valmont's Brenham, Texas galvanizing facility will be redeployed to the Midland location, as part of retrofitting the existing building site. When completed, Valmont-Pittsburgh Galvanizing's 120,000 square-foot facility will serve multiple market verticals throughout the region.

"United Galvanizing has been a respected name in the Houston market for many years," said Stephen G. Kaniewski, President and Chief Executive Officer of Valmont Industries, Inc. "With this acquisition, and the construction of our new galvanizing facility in Pennsylvania, we strengthen our North America presence in the Coatings business, and continue to execute on the growth strategies outlined at our 2018 Investor Day. By utilizing existing assets at our Brenham facility, we further demonstrate our commitment to smart capital management as we pursue strategic geographic expansion."

"We are excited to welcome the United team to Valmont, and announce our first greenfield plant in the Northeast U.S.," said Rick Cornish, Group President of Valmont Global Coatings. "The Pittsburgh area is a new market for us, with strong economic development supported by infrastructure and petrochemical growth. We look forward to serving the Houston and Pittsburgh markets with superior levels of quality and customer service that are unmatched in the industry."

Upon completion of both transactions, Valmont Coatings will have 38 locations worldwide in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and Southeast Asia.

About Valmont

Valmont is a global leader, designing and manufacturing engineered products that support global infrastructure development and agricultural productivity. Its products for infrastructure serve highway, transportation, wireless communication, electric transmission, and industrial construction and energy markets. Its irrigation equipment and services for large-scale agriculture improves farm productivity while conserving fresh water resources. In addition, Valmont provides coatings services that protect against corrosion and improve the service lives of steel and other metal products.

This release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that management has made in light of experience in the industries in which Valmont operates, as well as management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors believed to be appropriate under the circumstances. As you read and consider this release, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond Valmont's control) and assumptions. Although management believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect Valmont's actual financial results and cause them to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. These factors include among other things, risk factors described from time to time in Valmont's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as future economic and market circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results, operating efficiencies, availability and price of raw material, availability and market acceptance of new products, product pricing, domestic and international competitive environments, and actions and policy changes of domestic and foreign governments. The Company cautions that any forward-looking statement included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE Valmont Industries, Inc.