Bostwick-Braun Co., one of the Toledo area’s oldest businesses, announced Thursday that it has purchased Columbus Fastener Corp.

Columbus Fastener, which distributes fasteners, construction materials, and industrial supplies, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Bostwick-Braun, a wholesale hardware distributor and industrial supplier.

“We see a tremendous potential to cross-sell products in this merger,” said William R. Bollin, chairman and chief executive officer of Bostwick-Braun. “Columbus Fasteners will benefit from the expansive product listings that Bostwick offers.”

Columbus Fastener, which has been in business for more than 40 years, has two sites in Columbus and one in Cincinnati.

“We are pleased and proud to become the newest member of the Bostwick-Braun family of companies,” Mike Burke, CFC’s president and chief operating officer said in a statement. “We look forward to becoming Bostwick’s fastener ‘experts’ and helping them expand their sales programs. ... Our combined expertise will give us new and exciting opportunities that neither of us would have seen alone."

Bostwick-Braun was founded in Toledo in 1855 as W. & C.B. Roff & Co. The name was changed in the 1870s. It was Toledo’s third-oldest business when it moved to Sylvania Township in 2010. The only older businesses were The Blade and Lloyd Bros. Walker Co., a monument and gravestone firm.

First Published January 25, 2013, 1:20 p.m.