Porter's Group LLC., one of the largest independent metal fabricators in the United States and business partner to major blue chip corporations, announced today that it has acquired Garland, Texas-based Karlee Inc., a leader in contract manufacturing and metal fabrication services in the Southwest.

“With the addition of Karlee, we now have one of the largest geographic footprints of any metal fabrication company in the nation,” said John C. Higgins, chief executive officer of Porter's Group. “The acquisition of Karlee enables us to serve facilities of our customers in the South, adds new customers with cross selling opportunities on the East Coast and enhances the machining capabilities for the Porter's Group. We are now offering a highly attractive value proposition for companies wanting to streamline their operations and consolidate vendors,” added Higgins.

Karlee manufactures precision sheet metal and machined components. Its customer base includes aerospace, defense, commercial goods, medical equipment and telecommunications companies, primarily located in the Southwest region of the United States.

Porter's Group, which is owned by Cleveland-based Resilience Capital Partners, provides metal fabrication services to a host of companies and industries. For example, the company is heavily involved in the development of consumer self-service kiosks and is a hardware provider to financial services firms supplying ATMs and safe deposit boxes. Porter's Group also provides components, sub-assemblies and hardware used by the mining industry as well as heavy equipment and trucking manufacturers.

With the addition of Karlee's Garland, Texas facility, Porter's Group now has more than 600,000 square feet of production space readily available to serve customers across the U.S.

Porter's Group now employs more than 700 people including Karlee's approximately 250 employees.