Thermadyne to cut 100 jobs from West Lebanon workforce

The parent company of Thermal Dynamics in West Lebanon will be shifting some 100 jobs from New Hampshire to locations in Texas and Mexico.St. Louis-based Thermadyne Holdings Corp. announced Tuesday it will be transferring its manufacturing and plasma cutting operations to Denton, Texas, and Heramosillo, Mexico.Engineering, technical services and returned goods functions and a small assembly operation will remain at the West Lebanon location, the company said..Spokesperson Debbie Bockius told NHBR about 50 to 75 workers will remain in New Hampshire.”We are well aware that the Upper Valley is known for its high-tech manufacturing, but we’ve been analyzing this for several years,” she said. “We believe the move will improve our responsiveness to our customers and maximize our capacity and utilization of our equipment.”Bockius said the company will offer some of the affected workers the option to relocate.The company said it expects to complete the consolidation by the end of the year.Thermadyne Holdings was acquired by private equity firm Irving Place Capital in December 2010 for $422 million. – CINDY KIBBE/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW