Full Description

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (Lincoln Electric), incorporated in 1906, is a full-line manufacturer and reseller of welding and cutting products. Welding products include welding power sources, wire feeding systems, robotic welding packages, fume extraction equipment, consumable electrodes and fluxes. The Company's welding product offering also includes regulators and torches used in oxy-fuel welding and cutting. Lincoln Electric has wholly owned subsidiaries or joint venture manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, People’s Republic of China, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, Venezuela and Vietnam. Lincoln Electric manages its operations by geographic location and has two segments: North America and Europe, and combines all other operating segments as Other Countries. Other Countries includes results of operations for the Company’s businesses in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Venezuela and Vietnam. In April 2008, the Company acquired Electro-Arco, S.A. In October 2008, the Company acquired a 90% interest in Brastak, a Brazilian manufacturer of brazing products.

The arc welding power sources and wire feeding systems manufactured by the Company range in technology from basic units used for light manufacturing and maintenance to machines for robotic applications, high-production welding and fabrication. Three primary types of arc welding electrodes are produced: coated manual or stick electrodes, solid electrodes produced in coil reel or drum forms for continuous feeding in mechanized welding, and cored electrodes produced in coil form for continuous feeding in mechanized welding.

The Company’s products are sold in both domestic and international markets. In North America, products are sold principally through industrial distributors, retailers and also directly to users of welding products. Outside of North America, the Company has an international sales organization who sell products from the Company’s various manufacturing sites to distributors and product users. The Company’s end user markets include general metal fabrication; power generation and process industry, structural steel construction (buildings and bridges), heavy equipment fabrication (farming, mining and rail), shipbuilding, automotive, pipe mills and pipelines and offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction.