Brothers Pat and Peter Dix, longtime co-owners of Spokane-area specialty contracting companies Dix Corp. and Cobra Building Envelope Contractors Inc., have split the companies and have sold shares in them to their sons, the companies say.

Pat's sons, Kevin and Michael Dix, now own Dix Corp., that company says. Peter's sons, Travis and Eric Dix, recently each have acquired one-third ownership of Cobra BEC, while Peter Dix retains an equal share of the company and his position as president, Travis Dix says.

The family declines to disclose the terms of the transactions.

Dix Corp. specializes in heavy steel contracting, often involving fabrication and installation of massive components on dams, and has had annual revenues of more than $40 million in recent years, says Mike Ferguson, a spokesman for the company.

The company's corporate offices are located at 4024 S. Grove Road, just west of Spokane.

Dix Corp. has a total of 25 core employees working here and in the field, and it hires dozens of additional workers through union halls near job-site locations, Ferguson says.

Michael and Kevin Dix have worked as project managers at Dix Corp., respectively, for four and six years.

Cobra BEC specializes in constructing exterior walls and roofing systems, and installing waterproofing measures and other architectural features, Travis Dix says.

Cobra BEC's corporate offices are in the Spokane International Airport Businesses Park, at 7211 Flightline Blvd., and it also has operations in Auburn and Richland, Wash. The company employs up to 250 people in the peak of the construction season, Dix says.

Both companies were preceded by Dix Steel Co., which Peter Dix Sr. founded in 1947. His sons, Pat and Peter Dix, inherited that company in 1982, and founded Cobra the following year. While they owned both companies jointly, Pat ran Dix Corp. and Peter headed up Cobra BEC.