Big Bolt Acquires AB&O Manufacturing
Big Bolt Corp. acquired AB&O Manufacturing and is expanding production to two shifts at its Bloomingdale, IL, plant.
After 52 years of manufacturing in a plant on Grand Avenue in Chicago, AB&O had moved its manufacturing operations into Big Bolt in May.
With the acquisition, Big Bolt has increased production to 16 hours per day and is promoting overnight manufacturing.
AB&O was owned by Laurel O�Beid, and Big Bolt is owned by Pat Partridge and Tom Partridge.
AB&O manufactures acme-threaded rods and matching nuts in all grades of material.
Big Bolt, founded 26 years ago, manufactures specialty fasteners. Big Bolt specializes in next-day manufacturing of fasteners not available �off the shelf� and has a 15-person in-house A2LA accredited lab.
Big Bolt is located at 140 Covington Dr., Bloomingdale, IL 60108. Tel: 630 539-9400 Fax 630 539-9480 E-mail: patp@bigbolt.net Web: bigbolt.net

TransTechnology Sells Brazilian Ring Unit
TransTechnology Corporation sold its Brazilian retaining ring segment in a management buyout for $742,000 plus repayment of $258,000 in debt. The deal continues the Union, NJ-based designer�s divestiture of its specialty fastener assets.
In June TransTechnology sold its US-based engineered rings subsidiary to SeaView Capital LLC for $2.9 million to reduce debt and refocus its efforts on defense and aerospace products. Likewise, the company sold its Aerospace Rivet Manufacturers Corporation to Allfast Fastening Systems Inc. in City of Industry, CA.
TransTechnology also announced completion of refinancing agreements that extend $13.5 million in revolving credit and $20.5 million in loans to the company, which reported revenues of $72.3 million in the last fiscal year.

Republic Engineered Int�l Launches New Company
Republic Engineered Products LLC announced the company�s official launch with the completion of its $463 million purchase of certain Republic Technologies International LLC assets in a bankruptcy buyout. The assets included Ohio facilities in Canton, Lorain, Massillon and Fairlawn, as well as plants in Indiana and New York.
Republic Engineered manufactures special bar quality steel for automobiles and industrial equipment and is headquartered at 3770 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333-8367. Tel: 330 670-3000 or 800 232-7157 Fax 330 670-3106 E-mail: jwilloughby@republicengineered.com Web: republicengineered.com

FIN Publishers Acquire Two Newsletters
The Evans Publishing arm of Evans/vonMeier LLC acquired two newsletters, Construction News Alert and Growth/No Growth, from Mandolin Publishing of Flagstaff, AZ.
Evans Publishing is a sibling company to Fastener Industry News Inc.
FIN co-publisher Ann Bisgyer said the acquisitions are part of the growth of online publishing. Posting news on the Internet requires expanding staffing to provide the frequency of news reporting online subscribers want.
FIN editor and co-publisher John Wolz and Bisgyer take the same roles with CNA and G/NG. Jason Sandefur was recently added as associate editor of FIN and G/NG, and John Lundin continues as associate editor of CNA.
Both FIN and the Evans Publishing newsletters are moving to 2207 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232-1608. Tel: 503 335-0183 Fax 503 335-3451 E-mail: FIN@FastenerNews.com Web: EvansPublishing.com or FastenerNews.com \ �2002 FastenerNews.com