Originally posted in Trade & Industry Development: Metals

Union Partners announced it has purchased Heidtman Steel’s Automotive Steel Technical Center located in Gibraltar, Michigan. The facility sits adjacent to Lee Steel, one of Union Partners’ portfolio companies, and further solidifies the company’s position in serving the automotive market and other customers in the Michigan area.

The 9,500-square-foot facility was built in 2005 to house Heidtman’s automotive technical and commercial teams under one roof. Union Partners will use the location as a focal point of the organization’s commitment to best-in-class testing and research, including its work with both mills and OEMs to bring new advanced high strength (AHSS) and ultra-high strength steels to the marketplace. The acquisition also provides the opportunity for future expansion to over 150,000 square feet at the company’s existing Gibraltar facility.

“One of the biggest motivations for us in starting Union Partners was to identify and support – both financially and operationally – opportunities in the metals industry where innovation is alive and well,” said the company’s founders Chris Hutter and Paul Douglass in a joint statement. “This testing facility deepens our commitment to the next generation of steel products. It also deepens our commitment to our mills and customers as we all work together to understand the vast capabilities of these new materials.”

Complimentary to its pursuit of technical innovation is the support Union Partner’s portfolio companies provide in processing and distributing steel products in the marketplace. One example is the recent installation of an industry-leading Braner slitting line at the organization’s Gibraltar location. This heavy gauge slitter is capable of processing hot rolled black, hot rolled pickled and oiled, and cold rolled coils with mechanical properties ranging to 100,000-psi in gauges up to .500″.