Business briefs

P.D. George buys Ranbar insulation division

St. Louis-based P.D. George Co. has signed an agreement to acquire assets, including product formulas, of the Ranbar Electrical Insulation Division of Manor, Pa. The acquired division will be integrated into the Impregnating Resin and Compound Business Line of the P.D. George Co., and production will be transferred to P.D. George's St. Louis facility. The acquisition includes all Ranbar electrical insulating varnishes, solventless insulation, and cpoxy compounds for the electrical and electronics industries. Ranbar bought the Westinghouse varnish and resin product line in the mid-90's and later introduced water-based varnishes and epoxy copolymer resin products.

Eaton wins Heathrow distribution contract

Pittsburgh-based Eaton Corp. has been awarded a contract valued at $14 million to provide project management services and electrical distribution equipment for the Terminal 5 expansion project at London's Heathrow Airport. Baton's electrical business will provide low-voltage switchgear, busbar trunking, capacitors, and loose gear along with engineering and startup support for the expansion.

Circuit Assembly now marketing to Europe

Circuit Assembly Corp. of Irvine, Calif., has made agreements with three European firms to market Circuit Assembly's lines of electrical interconnect products throughout Europe. G-Tek Services and Elextronics have entered into agreements to represent Circuit Assembly products in England and Italy respectively, while Selectronix has agreed to become a franchised distributor of Circuit Assembly products in the U.K. G-Tek Services is based in Banbury, England, Flextronics in Milan, and Sclcctronix in Aldcrmaston, Reading, England.

Hisco made an authorized Nomex distributor

Houston-based distributor Hisco has been appointed as an authorized distributor of DuPont Nomex brand insulation products. Hisco operates 22 stocking locations in the U.S. and seven in Mexico and owns three custom-fabrication facilities, under the name Precision Converting, that help customers produce specialty electrical, electronic, and industrial parts. Nomex brand paper, pressboard, and laminate systems are found in electrical equipment applications ranging from small electronic power supplies and electric motors to large industrial drives, turbine generators, and power transformers.

Cryogenic firm bought by nuclear servicer

IceSoIv of Palmyra, Pa., a provider of dry-ice cleaning and decontamination services to the industrial, electrical, and environmental industries, has been bought by Babcock Services, Inc., of Richland, Wash., a provider of support services to the nuclear industry. IccSolv performs soft blast, abrasive blast, and hydrolasing technologies and two years ago added surface preparation and industrial coating to its services. The company was previously a division of Radiological Services, Inc., and will continue operating out of Palmyra.

ABB sells retail energy business

Power Measurement, an energy management systems provider based in Victoria, B.C., recently acquired the retail energy business of ABB, formerly Energy Interactive, Inc., of Oakland, Calif. Under the agreement, ABB's staff, services, and products will be integrated into Power Measurement's worldwide organization. ABB's Retail Energy products-including the Energy Profiler, Energy Profiler Online, Energy BOSS, and E-VEE applications-will be offered alongside Power Measurement's line of enterprise energy management products and services under the Power Measurement name.

Molcx buys protocol conversion business

Molex, Inc., of Lisle, III., a manufacturer of electronic, electrical, and fiber-optic interconnection systems, has bought the firmware-based protocol conversion business of Strategis Technologies of McHenry, 111., which has recently been working with Molex to develop advanced protocol conversion products. The transaction formalizes Molex's commitment to the development of intelligent interconnect products and systems as an extension of its Integrated Products Division.

New Hong Kong warehouse for wire supplier

ETCO, Inc., of Warwick, R.I., manufacturer of wire termination products and application equipment, has opened a warehouse and distribution center in Hong Kong to provide customers with 24-hour delivery within the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province. The facility offers both domestic (Hong Kong) and cross-border trucking and real-time, online tracking to let customers monitor all shipments and warehouse inventories. ETCO's products include automotive terminals, battery post clamps, appliance terminals and connectors, and insulated products.

NKK chooses globally franchisee! distributor

NKK Switches of Scottsdale, Ariz., has expanded its distribution agreement with Future Electronics, a global distributor with worldwide headquarters in Montreal, under which Future will be NKK's first globally franchised distributor. The two companies have been in a North and South American distribution partnership since the beginning of 2000. NKK's product line includes more than three million toggle, rocker, pushbutton, slide, rotary, DIP rotary, keypad, and keylock switches.