MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS Valspar Corp., Minneapolis, said it has acquired the paint manufacturing assets of Ace Hardware Corp., Chicago, including two manufacturing facilities near Chicago. Valspar also announced a long-term strategic supply relationship with Ace, under which Valspar will manufacture and supply Ace-branded paint products as well as make a comprehensive line of Valspar-branded paints available to Ace Hardware retail locations in the United States.
Ecolab Inc., St. Paul, has closed on its previously announced purchase of Quimiproductos S.A. de C.V., a manufacturer and provider of cleaning and sanitizing and water treatment products and services to beverage and brewery customers in Mexico. It also operates in several Central and South American countries.
Tile Shop Holdings Inc., Plymouth, has completed the purchase of a new, 150,000-square-foot distribution facility located in Durant, Okla. The new facility will initially be utilized to distribute product to its eight stores located in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri and expects to commence operations at the facility by the end of the second quarter 2013. The Tile Shop also said that it has opened three additional stores, in Edison, N.J., Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and Toledo, bring the company's store count to 68 as of Dec. 31.
Vomela Specialty Co., St. Paul, has completed the acquisition of the business and assets of Fusion Imaging Inc., Kaysville, Utah, a supplier of large format graphics, custom fabric tension displays and exhibits, and event graphics solutions. Fusion Imaging generates revenue of $12 million annually.
OTHER BUSINESS Xcel Energy Inc., Minneapolis, restarted one of its two nuclear reactors near Red Wing, Minn., the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported. Prairie Island Unit 1 had been down for refueling.
DEBT AND EQUITIES Hormel Foods Corp., Austin, Minn., authorized a common stock dividend of 17 cents per share, payable Feb. 15 to stockholders of record on Jan. 22.
