Northwest Pipe Co. is exploring “strategic alternatives” for its Oil Country Tubular Goods business, which could include potential acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures, the Vancouver-based company said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange filing this week.
The company said it has retained Raymond James & Associates, Inc. as financial advisor in its review. It said it has not made any formal decisions or reached any agreements about its tubular goods operations.
Scott Montross, Northwest Pipe’s president and CEO, said the company’s staff and directors want to sharpen Northwest Pipe’s focus on its core business of serving water transmission projects. Montross said the company recently invested $12 million in a facility in Saginaw, Texas, and has built that portion of its business through acquisitions.
Still, Montross said in the SEC fling, Northwest Pipe will continue its investment and expansion in a tubular goods facility in Atchison, Kan., scheduled for completion early next year. The $15 million project now underway at the Kansas facility is the culmination of a $35 million investment in that facility in recent years, Montross said.
