[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]Southco, Inc., a global leader in engineered access solutions, has today announced its acquisition of Unikey Industrial Components. With this acquisition, Southco expands its broad range of engineered access hardware solutions and extends the company's global market presence into South America.

Headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, Unikey is a leading manufacturer of latches, locks, hinges, ventilation systems and related accessories for various industries in Brazil and greater South America. Unikey serves a variety of diverse industries including industrial machinery, electrical equipment, mass transportation, marine and network and telecommunications.

Unikey‘s design and manufacturing capabilities will strengthen Southco’s position globally, providing new opportunities to add value to Southco's extensive customer base in a wide variety of industries and applications in the Brazilian market and beyond.

“This is an exciting time for our company as we continue to grow and expand our global reach,” said Brian McNeill, President & CEO of Southco, Inc. “We see immediate opportunities to accelerate our presence and participation in the fast growing markets of Brazil and greater South America. By uniting our strong and complementary brands, products and people, we will enhance our ability to add value and provide our customers throughout the world with the broadest line of high quality Access Hardware Solutions.”