More jobs could be created at a Black Country engineering firm following its $50 million (#25 million) takeover by an American rival.
PRD Holdings, based on the Monmer Close Industrial Estate in Willenhall, has agreed a merger with Texas-based Lone Star Fasteners.
The deal will safeguard the 370 jobs at PRD and could lead to more jobs being created in the future, the company said.
PRD manufactures and supplies standard and specialty high performance fasteners to the oil and gas, power generation, nuclear, petrochemical, heavy engineering, construction and automotive industries.
It is divided into five companies - PRD Fasteners, Eurofast, Triplefast International, which are based in Willenhall, Triplefast Middle East in Dubai, and the Fastener Network, which makes standard fasteners at its bases in Bromsgrove, Dorset, and Stevenage.
Lone Star, which also makes standard and high performance fasteners, gaskets and precision components, is owned by Trinity Hunt Partners, a Texas-based private equity firm.
The new joint company will have a combined turnover of around $150 million (#75 million) with 800 employees in the UK, US, Romania, Dubai and China.
The money and shares deal which has seen PRD take a stake in Houston- based Lone Star has been completed after several weeks of negotiations.
Phil Humphries, export development director of PRD, said: "The two companies had known and respected each other for many years after working in the same industry, but in different parts of the world.
"Lone Star worked with the oil industry in the US, while we were focused more on the UK and Europe.
"We made contact with them about co-operating further, and they had the backing to be able to fund a merger. They came to us when we were in a strong and successful phase of our development.
"Both companies work in an increasingly globalised industry, and by working together we could be more competitive and offer a lot more to our customers. The added investment coming in will enable us to pursue our ambitions of servicing our customers worldwide.
"This additional finance plus additional product lines could even increase employment opportunities in the future as we enter new markets. There will be no redundancies."
Among the ventures is one in Romania to supply a manufacturer of well head machinery, with a base in that country being established to service the customer and others in eastern Europe.
Mr Humphries said: "In the past lots of our exports have been at arms length, but customers increasingly expect more from their supply partners."
As part of this strategy PRD is looking to establish sales office in the Far East, Africa, and Europe in the next 12 to 18 months which could see it increase its exports sales from the 20 per cent of its #30 million turnover at present.
The combined business of Lone Star and PRD will be jointly managed by Bruce Ross, the chief executive of Lone Star and Allan Stennett, group managing director of PRD.
Although Lone Star will be the surviving entity, the PRD business will continue under its current brand names.
Mr Stennett will become Lone Star's group managing director for the Eastern Hemisphere.
He said: "Lone Star's expertise and market-leading reputation extends beyond fasteners to gaskets, precision machines components and industrial coatings, and will allow the PRD group of companies to offer their customers a more complete range of product solutions from a single source.
