AUBURN — A New Hampshire company that contracts Falcon Performance Footwear to manufacture high-tech firefighters’ boots has now purchased the Auburn company.

Globe Manufacturing Company, based in Pittsfield, has had an ongoing business partnership with Falcon since 2006 and purchased Falcon on Jan. 1.

Globe announced the purchased of its “sister company” on Jan. 6.

Falcon will continue business as Globe Footwear LLC, according to a news release from Globe Manufacturing.

Falcon was founded in 1963. In 2004, its parent company, Iron Age Corp., sold the specialty shoe company after deciding to move production work to Asia. At the time, Iron Age supplied industrial footwear, a market valued at about $800 million. Falcon made about 19 percent of Iron Age’s shoes and boots.

Falcon also generated about $2 million a year in private label sales of specialty footwear for companies like Knapp Shoe that wanted a “Made in the USA” label on their products.

In 2005, Modesto, Calif.,-based Hi-Tec Magnum purchased Falcon for an undisclosed sum.

In 2006, Globe — which manufactures firefighting turnout gear — contracted Falcon to manufacture premium leather firefighters’ boots that had an innovative athletic shoe platform to minimize slips and falls. The companies formalized their partnership in 2007. Since then, demand for the specialized boot has grown and Falcon has received a number of awards for innovation and excellence.

According to Rob Freese, senior vice president of marketing at Globe, “In just seven short years, Globe boots have become a huge success in the fire service industry because of the expertise and skills of our employees in Auburn, who we recognize as our greatest asset.”

In 2011, Falcon invested more than $100,000 in custom equipment to make toecaps for its boots, bringing that work back from China, enabling the company to market its specialized footwear, which is designed for firefighters, minors and others in heavy, industrial work, made entirely in the United States. Falcon’s motto? “The world’s best boots are made in Maine.”

The next year, the Maine International Trade Center awarded Falcon the Innovator of the Year award for its design and development of composite materials, as well as a “build to order” manufacturing process that gave the company a competitive advantage in international markets.

In 2013, Falcon was awarded a Governor’s Award for Business Excellence on behalf of Gov. Paul LePage and the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. Falcon was chosen because the company exemplifies the type of Maine business that has continually adapted and innovated to remain a competitive force in one of Maine’s heritage industries: shoe making.

At the height of its production, Falcon employed just under 500 people working in 120,000 square feet of space at the Continental Mill in Lewiston. In 2010, the company relocated to Wright’s Landing in the Kitty Hawk Industrial Park in Auburn. Its customers include L.L. Bean, Timberland and Dunham Boots.