This is Manac's first trailer manufacturing plant in the United States.
The transaction includes a 115,000 square foot plant as well as certain raw material and finished products. The company, located in Oran approximately 200 km south of St-Louis, manufactures bottom dump trailers and specialty semi-trailers. Annual production capacity is 800 units and the company currently employs more than 50 people.
"The acquisition of CPS Trailer demonstrates the company's determination to increase its presence in the specialized product market in North America,” says Charles Dutil, president of Manac. “This acquisition complements and expands our existing product line and allows us to excellent access to markets in the U.S. Southwest, through the CPS network of more than 40 independent distributors."
Dutil says the acquisition will allow the company to take advantage of the increase in demand that was felt in the transport industry during the first six months of 2002. Manac's backlog is currently 2,753 units, compared with 984 in 2001.
According to Manac, the company is largest semi-trailer manufacturer in Canada, controlling over 30% of the market and producing close to 5,700 units in 2001. The company employs over 1,000 people and operates plants in Saint-Georges, Trois-Rivières, and Saint-Prime in Quebec, as well as in Orangeville, Ontario.
Manac is a division of The Canam Manac Group Inc, an industrial company that specializes in the fabrication of structural steel, semi-trailers and forestry equipment. It operates 21 plants in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The company employs close to 4,800 people and sales in 2001 reached over $1,036,000,000.