June 1, 2011
Pittsburgh, PA: Lewis-Goetz and Company, Inc. (“Lewis-Goetz” or the “Company”) announced it has acquired Valley Rubber & Gasket Company, Inc. (“Valley”) and all related subsidiaries. Valley, a Sacramento-based fabricating distributor of conveyor belting, hose and sealing products has operations throughout central and northern California as well as locations in Seattle, Washington; Elko, Nevada; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Valley provides mission-critical products to the construction, agriculture, mining and food processing markets in addition to numerous other diverse end markets of the Western US.

In commenting on the acquisition, Jeff Crane, President and CEO of Lewis-Goetz said, “The Valley locations provide an important piece of the geographic puzzle that we have been working hard to find. While it’s nice to be able to say we finally have a significant West Coast presence, it is much more rewarding to know that we are getting more than just dots on a map; we are getting the very best West Coast platform from which we can continue our organic and acquisition growth strategy.

Les Shively and the entire Valley team should be very proud of the company they have built. They have done it through organic growth, greenfield expansion and acquisitions and they have continued this growth trajectory even as one of their largest end markets, the California construction market, remains terribly depressed.

We have discussed the idea of putting these two great companies together with Les and his team for some time. We are excited to be able to work with them and provide the investment necessary for the next stage of their growth strategy. We are equally excited to be able to tell our many national accounts of our ability to support their West Coast operations from local inventory and with local expertise.”

In commenting on the acquisition, Les Shively, President and CEO of Valley, highlighted his company’s great history as well as the great opportunity this represents.

“Valley Rubber and Gasket was opened over 30 years ago when Walter Bates with the RAGCO organization saw a need to open a location in California to expand their presence in the West. That’s when Valley Rubber & Gasket in Sacramento was opened, by Bill McCluskey. To date, Valley Rubber & Gasket Company, with the exceptional contributions of Larry Chavez, its CFO, 9 seasoned branch managers and the finest employees in the industry, has grown to be the leading distributor of industrial rubber products on the West Coast.

Our focus has always been on taking care of customers and our employees. This has been the key to our success and we are very proud of our organization and especially proud of our employees. Our employees are what make Valley Rubber & Gasket great. As the industry changes, we understand the need to change along with it. Lewis-Goetz is a dynamic and well managed company and we knew Valley Rubber & Gasket would be a good fit with their organization. We, at Valley Rubber & Gasket Company knew that joining Lewis-Goetz would allow us to continue our growth as a platform company and would give our employees new opportunities for growth in the future.” Shively will continue with the company as the Region Manager of the newly formed West Region.

Lewis-Goetz is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is one of North America’s largest industrial distributors. Lewis-Goetz recently ranked 32nd on Industrial Distribution’s 2009 list of The Big 50 Distributors. You can visit www.lewis-goetz.com for more detailed information.