Dow Industries Sold to New York Firm

Dow Industries Inc. of Laguna Hills, one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the nation, has been acquired by a subsidiary of Bairnco Corp. in New York for an undisclosed sum.

Dow, founded in 1970 as a construction management company, saw its sales grow to more than $22 million last year largely as a result of its development of secure, “leak-proof” office complexes for high technology and defense-contracting companies.

Unlike conventionally built complexes, Dow projects have walls that can trap the electromagnetic waves emitted by computers so they cannot be intercepted and decoded by foreign orindustrial spies.

Dow’s purchase by Keene Corp., a Bairnco subsidiary, represents an attempt by Keene to further expand its interests in the electromagnetic shielding market. Keene reportedly has purchased eight companies since 1983, several of them specializing in the building of secure office complexes.

Dow’s founder and president, Richard R. Willich, will continue to head the company under the new ownership, Keene President Eugene Cafiero said. In a prepared statement, Willich said the purchase gives Dow the financial support it needs to meet the demand for its products.

In December, Inc. magazine estimated Dow’s growth at 150% annually between 1979 and 1983, enough to earn it 33rd place on the magazine’s list of the country’s 500 fastest-growing, privately held companies.