Southweld

Southweld is really two businesses under one roof in Decatur, Alabama. The first is a wholesale operation with roots back to 1967, supplying welding distributors from large national gas houses to regional independents, with same-day shipping and the everyday staples they need in one order. The second is Heavy Hitters, a premium torch and accessories brand founded by elite pipe welders, the specialists flown out when a refinery job starts failing X-rays. The brand built a devoted following among working welders: a mailing list of roughly 15,000 buyers, a six-figure social audience, and customers in five countries. Sales grew double digits into 2026.

Owner Clark Kelly, 63, may be the only CPA turned military fighter pilot in the welding business. A serial founder with decades in welding distribution, he bought the premium brand and the 1967 wholesaler in the same year, rebranded the combination as Southweld, and rebuilt the team around a strong general manager. He wasn't looking to leave the industry. Another distribution business he co-founded with his son had just landed its largest contract ever and was set to triple, and it needed his full attention and capital. Time, not price, was his constraint.

Rejigg had called Clark on and off for 18 months before he listed in early March 2026. The response repaid the persistence: his first buyer call happened within hours of the first connection, and eight qualified buyers and fourteen meetings followed over twelve weeks. Clark ran the process himself from Mobile. He wrote his own two-page company narrative, walked buyers through the financials live on video calls, and hosted site visits in Decatur, weighing several competing offers and structures along the way. The buyer who won was the one who matched his pace: first call May 30, a site visit within 48 hours, a signed LOI June 22, and a close that actually moved up from its target date to August 7. Sixty-nine days, first contact to closed.

Danny Skinner is a Birmingham entrepreneur who grew up in his family's industrial scrap business and has founded, grown, and sold companies in technology, recycling, and services. The first minutes of his first call with Clark were two Alabama scrap-and-steel family stories finding each other, an hour's drive apart. When Clark flew into Birmingham two days later, Danny picked him up at the airport and drove him to Decatur himself. He knew the customer, welders and tradespeople, and he knew distribution, warehouses, and e-commerce. He financed the deal with a conventional bank loan, and on closing day he was on the floor at Southweld counting inventory.