Knight’s Cos. buys 2 businesses to expand product lines, capacity

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Knight’s Cos. has acquired Tekna Corp., a prestressed and precast concrete manufacturer, and Sovereign Steel, a rebar and steel reinforcements fabricator. Both companies, founded by Eric Deierlein, are located in Charleston. 

These acquisitions give the Summerville concrete supplier additional product lines and more capacity for upcoming infrastructure projects. Since 1969, Knight’s Cos. has offered septic, ready-mix concrete, precast concrete, trucking and concrete pumping services to commercial and residential customers in South Carolina and Georgia. 

“It gives us diversification,” said Pete Knight, CEO of Knight’s Cos. “While our book of business is currently focused on residential growth and commercial development, we can now offer prestressed foundation piling, bridge beams, bridge deck slabs, rebar packages and more to help our customers meet South Carolina’s immediate infrastructure needs.”  

Deierlein founded Tekna Corp. and Sovereign Steel in 2005, after working in his family’s business, Republic Contracting. Tekna and Sovereign Steel have worked on many large projects around the Lowcountry. 

“We produced the precast, prestressed beams, pilings and sheet piling for Mount Pleasant’s Memorial Waterfront Park,” Deierlein said. “In fact, we’ve provided prestressed concrete products for several projects on the waterfront, including the foundation replacement at The Battery in downtown Charleston.”  

Recently, Tekna and Sovereign have been building the main components for the Battery Park Pedestrian Bridge over Noisette Creek in North Charleston with Knight’s Redi-Mix as their concrete supplier.  

“Being a former customer, I know Pete and others in the organization felt I was leaving my team in good hands,” Deierlein said. “I know my guys will have work in the future and be able to draw from a bigger bench to handle more projects.”  

“We’re excited to see how this acquisition further aligns us with what our customers do and the opportunities it presents to strengthen our partnerships,” Knight said.