MFRI, Inc. (MFRI)

MFRI, Inc. was an industrial manufacturer based in Niles, Illinois. Its main business, Perma-Pipe, makes pre-insulated specialty piping systems and leak detection systems used for district heating and cooling, oil and gas gathering, and industrial plants. For many years the company also had filtration and industrial process cooling businesses, which made it a small diversified manufacturer.

The company traces its roots to Midwesco Filter Resources, and the MFRI name came from that history. It listed on NASDAQ under the symbol MFRI and grew through acquisitions, adding the Perma-Pipe piping business and the Thermal Care cooling equipment business. Perma-Pipe expanded overseas with plants in the Middle East, India and Canada to serve large infrastructure and energy projects.

In the mid-2010s MFRI narrowed its focus. It sold its filtration businesses in 2016 and concentrated on piping systems, which had become by far its largest segment. Results depended heavily on large project orders, especially from district energy and oil and gas customers, so revenue could swing considerably from year to year.

To reflect the new focus, the company changed its name to Perma-Pipe International Holdings, Inc. effective March 20, 2017. Its shares began trading on NASDAQ under the new symbol PPIH on March 21, 2017. The company, its listing and its shareholders were unchanged; only the name and ticker were new.