SBP Holdings — No. 36 on MDM’s 2022 Top Industrial Distributors list — announced Aug. 31 that it has acquired an industrial rubber and hose distributor that has two locations in North Carolina.

The company said that it has joined forces with Catawba Industrial Rubber Company, Inc. and Coastal Hose & Rubber, Inc. Both will operate within the Singer Hose and Rubber Division of Dallas, Texas-based SBP, which grows to approximately 78 locations and over 1,000 employees with the additions.

Catawba Industrial was established in 1963 and has been owned and operated by husband-and-wife team of Marvin (Skip) and Pam Bruce since 1999. It operates from Charlotte, North Carolina as Catawba Industrial Rubber and from Wilmington, North Carolina as Coastal Hose & Rubber.

SBP touts Catawba as “the region’s leading expert in industrial hose, specialty gasket and industrial belting and clearly understands and responds to the urgency of customers’ requirements.”

Catawba’s key markets it operates in include general industrial, construction, chemical and resale. The Bruce’s plan to retire within a year and will continue to manage the Catawba business during the transition. SBP noted that plans are in place to expand the Catawba enterprise through organic growth and cooperation with other SBP subsidiaries.

“We have been proud to serve the Carolinas for decades,” Skip Bruce said in an SBP news release. “We are extremely confident that this transition will benefit our employees as well as our customers by providing the same excellent sales and service while providing a stronger network and expanded offerings.”

“We are truly excited about teaming up with Skip, Pam and the Team at Catawba Industrial to grow our presence in the Southeast,” added SBP CEO Craig Osborne. “Industrial hose and specialty gaskets continue to be a large addressable market with tremendous opportunity for growth and there is no question we have a solid base and the ability to expand.”