Ohio-based cutting tools manufacturer M.K. Morse Company announced Jan. 3 its acquisition of PJ Wiseman Ltd., a welding supplies distributor and welding center in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1988 by Paul Wiseman, PJ Wiseman services customers in the United Kingdom, Ireland and European Union. Wiseman, who is preparing for retirement, and his daughter Gemma Harling worked with Morse on the acquisition, according to a news release. Harling will continue to work with Morse as General/Office Manager following the ownership transition.

PJ Wiseman, which has been a distribution partner of Morse for more than 30 years, will operate as The M. K. Morse Company UK Ltd. moving forward, according to the release. PJ Wiseman’s facility in North Yorkshire becomes Morse’s sixth distribution center worldwide.

“We are excited as a company for this next step. It sticks to our roots of being a family business and shows loyalty to both our internal and external UK customers,” Morse co-owner Meagan Sonner-Martino said. “Our decades-long relationship with Paul and his team is meaningful to us and we love that Gemma is staying on to grow Morse. It is great to be joining two families together to create a bigger one.

“It is a great gateway into the UK, where we already have a foothold and a set of customers,” she added. “Morse’s next generation of leadership is interested in expanding globally, and this is a good first step toward where we want to go in the future.”