African Fusion November 2017

Air Products and Unique Welding Alloys team up Through the use of innovative gas

Leading industrial gas manufacturer Air Products and leading supplier of weld- ing products, Unique Welding Alloys, have formed a solidbase for a successful partnership. In March this year, the two companies celebrated a relationship that has grown and strengthened over the last ten years. As one of the few companies in South Africa offering a complete range of equipment and associated products, safety equipment and consumables, Unique Welding Alloys joined hands with Air Products to supply the indus- trial gases required for MIG/MAG, FCAW, TIG welding and plasma cutting. This relationship has grown to its current strength, largely due to the service cul- ture and drive to continuously improve processes and products, as well as the innovative cultures of both companies. Air Products has been able to supply product via cylinders or CryoEase, de- pending on the volumes required. With its national footprint, Air Products is in a position tomeet the demands of Unique Welding Alloys’ branches nationwide.

mixing technology and different modes of supply, Unique Welding Alloys is able to blend gases and offer customers the products suited for their specific require- ments. This ultimately enables them to confidently market a complete offering to their end customers. According to Josua Le Roux, general manager of Central Support Services at Air Products, this relationship is a key ex- ampleof howAir Products complements its channel partners. “We value the rela- tionshipwithUniqueWelding Alloys and the trust they have placed in us as a key enabler in their drive to provide a total solution to their customers. We strive to support them so that they are able to achieve their business objectives. At Air Products, we believe in fostering long- term relationships with distributors as well as with direct customers.” Unique Welding Alloys CEO and executive director, Nazmi Adams, says on the relationship with Air Products: “Our offering combined with Air Prod- ucts’ flexible CryoEase gas delivery and In addition to the acquisition, he company is investing further capital to modernise the Genrec business and to ensure that it is sufficiently capitalised to take advantage of the Group’s new business strategy. “This acquisition ensures that we have a strong foothold in the steel fabrication market in South Africa. We plan to diversify the current Genrec product offering to become a sig- nificant steel provider for infrastructure developments in energy, water, mining, health, education and transport sectors,” adds Tseki. Henry Laas, group chief executive of Murray & Roberts adds: “Genrec was the last remaining manufacturing business in the Group’s portfolio of businesses. We believe that the sale of Genrec supports the Group’s long-term strategy and that, it is in the best interests of Genrec, as the

Unique Welding Alloys offers Air Products’ flexible CryoEase gas delivery and mixing systems to its customers. mixing systems, provides our customers access to leading-edge global technol- ogy in MIG/TIG welding that can adapt andgrowwith the customer’s needs. The gas mixture can be configured precisely at the customer’s premises to supply a constant gas mix to match the welding wire being used.” Whether a secure supply of cutting or welding gas is required, Air Products and Unique Welding Alloys continue to provide innovative solutions through ‘Service that Delivers the Difference’. Unique Welding Alloys is a division of Weldamax, a Sanlam Private Equity Company. www.weldamax.co.za

Southern Palace Group acquires Genrec S outhernPalaceGrouphas announced the signing of an agreement to ac- quire 100%of Genrec Engineering, Murray &Roberts’ steel fabrication andmanufac- turing business. Lucas Tseki, Southern Palace chief ex-

ecutive officer, says: “This acquisition is a continuationof SouthernPalace’s strategy to be a leading, black-owned, industrial operating company, particularly in the infrastructure, mining services and value- added steel manufacturing industries. Steel is in the fabric of Southern Palace, the Group having been involved in the steel services business as an investor for the past 15 years. It is important for us to leverage this heritage, using the experi- ence we’ve gained over the years to tap into the vast networks and connections we’ve built up, in order to grow Genrec in SouthAfricaand the rest of the continent.”

Lucas Tseki, Southern Palace CEO.

business will now have greater opportu- nity to unlock order book potential in the public sector.” Southern Palace is a wholly black- ownedandmanagedSouthAfrican, diver- sified industrial operating company with interests in numerous well-established businesses. www.southernpalace.co.za

ND Engineering is a specialist fabricator of a large variety of process equipment spanning across multiple industries utilising the latest technology.

| +27 (0) 31 464 0510 | +27 (0) 83 449 5540 | nolan.green@ndengineering.co.za | www.ndengineering.co.za |

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November 2017

AFRICAN FUSION