W Silver Recycling buys scrap metal recycler

By Paul Ploumis (ScrapMonster Author)

September 02, 2016 10:34:48 PM

EL PASO (Scrap Monster): W Silver Recycling, a large El Paso company that does metal, plastic and cardboard recycling for factories in Juárez and other areas, has bought another El Paso recycling company.

W Silver this week completed the purchase of 110-year-old El Paso Iron & Metal at 1535 E. San Antonio Ave., said Lane Gaddy, 33, chief executive officer of W Silver, which was founded by his great-grandfather 98 years ago.

"This is our first acquisition since I've been involved with the company" beginning in 2005, Gaddy said.  "We want to acquire other companies outside of El Paso" to grow further, he said.

El Paso Iron & Metal is located less than a half-mile from W Silver's headquarters at 1720 Magoffin Ave. in Central El Paso, where W Silver has buildings and yards on seven different city blocks.

It was owned for about 20 years by a Houston family with holdings in Houston, Laredo and Mexico, Gaddy said. The family did not want to be identified and did not want to talk to the El Paso Times about why it decided to sell the company, Gaddy said.

No financial details were released.

Most of El Paso Iron & Metal's business is buying scrap metal from demolition companies, scrap dealers and the public — markets W Silver stopped serving about a decade ago, Gaddy said.

"We'll run this as a separate operation" and use it as a platform to do similar operations at W Silver's other locations in the southwestern United States and Mexico, Gaddy said.

Gaddy moved to El Paso several years ago to run his family's company after getting a finance degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson.

He's become well known in recent years for his role in redeveloping Downtown El Paso. He's heading investment groups remaking several historic Downtown buildings.

W Silver also has operations in Santa Teresa, near El Paso's West Side; Albuquerque; Amarillo; McAllen; and two locations in Monterrey, Mexico.

It employs 220 people, including 100 in El Paso. That does not include employees Gaddy said he plans to retain at El Paso Iron & Metal. However, he said, he cannot divulge how many people work for that company because of a confidentiality agreement with the seller, he said.

He plans to hire 15 more people for El Paso Iron & Metal in the next 12 months to grow that business, Gaddy said.

"We approached them about selling the business," Gaddy said. "The business used to be larger. It's been a tough time for scrap metal recyclers" in recent years, he said.

Courtesy: www.elpasotimes.com