Douglas Dynamics, the parent company of Western and Fisher snowplows, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dejana Truck & Utility Equipment, a multi-location truck equipment distributor and manufacturer based in Kings Park, New York.
Jim Janik, chairman, president, and CEO of Douglas Dynamics, made the announcement during a conference call June 16. The company expects to finalize the deal in the third quarter. Dejana management will continue to run the company, and Dejana facilities are expected to remain the same.
Douglas Dynamics will pay $206 million for the company. Dejana reported sales of $145 million last years. The truck equipment distributor employs 500 people and has seven locations in five states.
Janik listed multiple reasons for wanting the acquire the Dejana operation. Among them:
- To strengthen Douglas Dynamics’ position as a manufacturer of vehicle attachments and equipment.
- To reduce the seasonality that is inherent in the snow and ice control business. Dejana’s truck equipment revenue is relatively steady across all four quarters of the year, Janik said.
- To extend their upfit strategy that began 18 months ago with the acquisition of Henderson Manufacturing.
- To diversify outside snow and ice control equipment. Snow and ice control equipment represent only 10% of Dejana sales.
- To strengthen company’s geographic footprint
- To further diversify the trucks on which Douglas products are installed. Most Douglas snow and ice control products currently are mounted on light-duty trucks with. Dejana is more involved with medium duty trucks.
- To expand company capabilities into other types of work vehicles. The work van market is especially appealing, with 400,000 sold last year. Dejana manufactures products and distributes others for that market.
- To access the chassis pools that Dejana operates.
"On behalf of my father, Pete Dejana, who founded our company in 1957, and the rest of the Dejana family, we are pleased to be joining such a great organization as Douglas Dynamics," said Andrew Dejana, president of Dejana. "We are very proud of the legacy we have built and are happy that the Dejana name will continue to provide innovative, best in class, cost effective solutions for many years to come. We look forward to working with the Douglas team to build upon the successful partnership we have developed over the past 25 years."
“We look forward to utilizing the expertise of Andy and the Dejana family for many years to come,” Janik said.
