Special to CONTRACTOR

PERRYSVILLE, OHIO — Established distribution and a 75-year-old brand name led Organización Corona, a privately owned Colombian plumbing manufacturer, in February to acquire Mansfield Plumbing Products. Mansfield will report through Corona’s U.S.-based business unit, Ceramicorp. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Corona is a leading producer of plumbing products in Colombia with brand names including Corona and Mancesa. It exports 51% of its sales to more than 20 countries throughout Europe and South and North America, including the United States where products are sold under the Corona brand. The acquisition of Mansfield is part of Corona’s strategy for aggressive global growth in the plumbing products business, said Newbold Warden, Mansfield’s vice president/marketing.

“Corona wants to expand distribution in the United States,” Warden told CONTRACTOR. “Mansfield is carried by 17 of the top 20 distributors in the U.S., and we’re with eight of the top 10 home builders.”

In addition, Mansfield has a presence in the showroom market through its Windsor line of whirlpools and china, he noted. Mansfield is in Lowe’s special-order program, and some of its products are sold through Ace Hardware as well.

“What Corona will bring to Mansfield is resources and product development,” Warden said.

Established in 1929, Mansfield sells more than 4 million pieces a year in North America. The company employs more than 750 people and has domestic manufacturing and distribution centers in Perrysville and Big Prairie, Ohio; Henderson, Texas; and Fontana, Calif.

Corona will retain Mansfield’s management team, including Kevin Oak as president. He will report to David Abramowitz, chief operating officer of Ceramicorp, and Julio Manuel Ayerbe, CEO of both Corona and Ceramicorp.