Titan Production Equipment, formed with assets acquired from Exterran Corp., is planning to scale up its manufacturing facilities west of Houston to build equipment used to separate, process and treat oil and natural gas streams.

Sponsored by Branford Castle Partners, an affiliate of New York private equity Castle Harlan Inc., Titan in April bought Exterran’s North American oil and gas production equipment assets for an undisclosed amount.

The transaction included an 80-acre manufacturing facility west of Houston in Columbus, a 210,000 square-foot plant that is considered one of the largest of its kind in the United States. The facility has capacity to manufacture more than 4,000 units a year, according to Titan.

“With our acquisition complete, Titan is taking orders, serving customers, hiring employees and ramping up production,” said CEO Chris Werner, who was an Exterran executive for eight years.

Werner and Senior Vice President Michael Collins, also a former Exterran executive, are investors in Titan and will operate the business going forward.

The oil and gas production equipment market has lacked manufacturing capacity, which has left customers with long lead times, product quality issues and limited engineering support, Werner noted.

Already, he said, “Over 80 employees have been hired, with plans to expand our team to 200 by year’s end.”

Legacy operations began in 1927, initially as Smith Industries, which became Hanover-Smith and then Exterran, before Castle Harlan created Titan this year.

Houston-based Exterran, a global market leader in oil and gas production equipment, natural gas compression, produced water treatment solutions and gas processing/treatment, is continuing to offer an array of services worldwide. It also plans to provide some production equipment in North America through Titan.

“Titan is Branford’s second platform acquisition in June,” said managing partner David Castle. “Titan is a particularly attractive investment because of the recent recovery of North American oil and gas drilling activity and the need for Titan’s equipment in its markets.”