Upstate Shredding LLC-Ben Weitsman Recycling’s CEO has acquired a significant stock holding in the scrap recycling firm’s biggest competitor, Metalico Inc.

Adam Weitsman, CEO of the Owego, N.Y.-based Upstate, has purchased 5.56 million shares of scrap processor Metalico, based in Cranford, N.J.

The acquisition gives Weitsman a 9.54-percent stake in the company. He becomes Metalico’s largest shareholder, owning more shares than Carlos Aguero, Metalico’s co-founder, president and CEO.

Weitsman declined to give his strategy in buying shares of his competitor, according to a report in American Metal Market confirmed by Upstate Shredding.

Upstate Shredding has been expanding aggressively in the Northeast.

Metalico employs 600 people in 27 operating locations in seven states.