Matheson Tri-Gas Inc., Basking Ridge, NJ, a manufacturer and supplier of industrial, medical, electronics, specialty gases and welding supplies, has acquired Sims Welding Supply, Long Beach, CA. Matheson is a subsidiary of Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp., a producer of industrial, medical, electronics and specialty gases headquartered in Japan.

Sims Welding Supply, a supplier of industrial, specialty and bulk gases, plus welding hard goods, equipment and supplies, operates seven locations in Southern California.

"This investment is consistent with our vertical integration strategy whereby we strive to serve high growth markets with both industrial and specialty cylinder gases and related equipment along with bulk liquid products," said Scott Kallman, president and CEO of Matheson. "In this case, we are greatly improving the cylinder distribution component of our infrastructure which complements our significant bulk liquid production capacity in the Los Angeles market.”