Falcon Gases has acquired Encore Gas & Supply, a Long Beach-based distributor of packaged gases and welding supplies, marking the New York-based startup's first deal since launching in late 2025. The acquisition gives Falcon an initial platform in Southern California, with Encore bringing three locations across Long Beach, Ontario and Valencia, plus a specialty and industrial gas facility in Signal Hill, into the fold.
Falcon's purchase of Encore comes on the heels of a strategic majority investment from private equity firm Odyssey Investment Partners, which backed the young gas and welding supply platform as it looks to expand nationally. Terms of both the Odyssey investment and the Encore acquisition were not disclosed, according to Odyssey's announcement. Falcon's strategy, per the same announcement, is focused on both organic growth and acquisitions, with plans to work hand-in-hand with leading independent distributors.
As Los Angeles Business Journal reports, Falcon will center its growth effort on partnerships with owners and managers. Pete Jeffe, Falcon's chief executive, said he intends to work cohesively with platform leaders going forward, framing the Encore deal as a model for how the company plans to grow.
From Welding Shop to Diversified Supplier
Encore's roots trace back to 2014, when it was co-founded by Ben Anderson, who now serves as the company's president, according to Odyssey's release. The company started life as Encore Welding Supply, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal's reporting, before adopting its current name in 2020 as it rebranded and began offering microbulk services, which involve installing large gas tanks directly at customer sites. Encore opened its Signal Hill gas facility in 2018, two years before that rebrand.
Anderson has described Encore's early customer base as mostly welding and construction companies, particularly those serving infrastructure and energy work, per the Los Angeles Business Journal. Since then, the company's reach has broadened considerably. Anderson has said Encore's commitment and market share in those core areas continued to grow even as its customer industries diversified, with the company now serving a wider range of sectors beyond welding, construction, infrastructure and energy.
Executives Frame Deal as Launchpad for Growth
Jeffe called Encore and Anderson an ideal foundational partnership for Falcon's Southern California ambitions, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal, pointing to what he described as Encore's track record of growth, exceptional customer service and a belief that people and relationships drive success. For his part, Anderson said that as Encore entered its next phase of growth, it would continue to invest in customers, people and assets, language that echoes similar comments Anderson gave to Industrial Distribution about entering Encore's next phase of growth.
Gasworld describes the Encore purchase as Falcon's first acquisition, noting the company's broader aim of supporting independent, regional distributors while building out a national distribution platform spanning industrial, medical, specialty and bulk gases alongside welding supplies. Encore's own expansion history reflects that regional-growth model: the company opened its first Inland Empire store and distribution hub in Ontario in July 2021, according to the Daily Bulletin, years before Falcon entered the picture.
Part of a Wider Wave of Gas Distribution Consolidation
The Encore deal lands amid broader consolidation activity in the packaged and industrial gas distribution sector. Earlier this year, Airgas acquired a California auto parts retailer's gas distribution business that had served industrial and agricultural customers north of Sacramento, according to Industrial Distribution. That transaction, while in a different part of the state and involving a different buyer, underscores an industry pattern of larger, well-capitalized players absorbing regional distributors.
Encore gives Falcon an immediate operating footprint in Southern California, with three showrooms and its Signal Hill facility. Whether Encore's name, staffing or day-to-day operations will shift under its new ownership has not been detailed by either company.
