Utilimaster builds specialty vehicles made to customer specifications, such as this DuraPlate truck body for Old Dominion.

11/20/2009  Spartan Acquires Utilimaster in $45 Million Deal

Spartan Motors has acquired Utilimaster Corporation from John Hancock Life Insurance Company, a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, in a $45 million deal. Utilimaster develops specialty vehicles made to customer specifications in the delivery and service market, including walk-in vans and hi-cube vans, as well as truck bodies.

Charlotte, Mich-based Spartan expects the purchase to add about $105 million in revenue each year, while slightly diminishing earnings in the first full year. Utilimaster employs about 550 workers throughout its more than 550,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Wakarusa, Ind.

"This acquisition represents a major strategic step forward to diversify our revenue stream into new end markets that offer growth potential and are not directly dependent on government funding or consumer spending," said John Sztykiel, president and CEO of Spartan Motors. "We also gain entry into the North American delivery and service market, add fabrication and vehicle body expertise, benefit from Utilimaster's strong brand, market share position and blue-chip customer base, and create opportunities to leverage future Spartan chassis growth."

The majority of Utilimaster's revenues are in the delivery and service market, which includes walk-in vans for the package delivery, bakery/snack delivery and linen/uniform rental markets. The rest of its revenues come from commercial truck bodies, along with service, parts and accessories.

"Utilimaster hit our targets for cultural fit, market potential and financial metrics, including sustained profitability and market share gains amidst an industry that has declined by 50 percent due to macro-economic conditions," said Joe Nowicki, Spartan's chief financial officer.

Under the terms of the deal, Spartan will pay $50 million in cash, less a net working capital adjustment. Spartan will also pay contingent earn-out payments of up to $7 million based primarily on the Utilimaster operation exceeding revenue milestones. The acquisition will be financed with a combination of cash and debt with an expected closing date for the transaction of Nov. 30, 2009, subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions.





Supplier News: Related News

2/9/2010 - Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions Launches New Ad Campaign Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions (BBTS), a division of Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, has launched a new brand advertising campaign aimed at illustrating the company's customized tire programs for fleet customers.... More >

2/9/2010 - AxleTech Moves Into New Troy Facility AxleTech International, a General Dynamics company, has officially moved to its new headquarters and distribution center in Troy, Mich., to meet the needs of its commercial and military customers.... More >

2/9/2010 - GM Joins Ranks of Biodiesel Supporters With 2011 Diesel General Motors has announced that its 2011 model year Duramax 6.6L turbo diesel engines will be fully compatible with a 20 percent blend of biodiesel (B20).... More >

2/9/2010 - Citation Merges With Grede Foundries to Form New Company Citation Corp. has purchased certain assets of Milwaukee-based Grede Foundries, which specializes in gray iron, ductile iron and steel castings.... More >

2/8/2010 - Mitsubishi Fuso Sells 100,000th Truck Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America has sold its 100,000th truck in North America.... More >

2/8/2010 - Volvo Group, Penn State Form Research Partnership The Volvo Group joined a partnership with Pennsylvania State University for research into engine technology, alternative fuels, intelligent transportation systems and new safety technologies.... More >

2/8/2010 - Xata Gets Revenue Up With Turnpike Acquisition While software provider Xata managed to boost its revenue by 20 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 with its acquisition of Turnpike Global Technologies, the company widened its net loss to $1.6 million... More >

2/8/2010 - New-To-North America MX Includes Innovative But Proven Features, Paccar Says Paccar says its new heavy-duty MX diesel will be the standard engine in most Kenworth and Peterbilt Class 8 models as 2010 unfolds, and that it will be federally certified without use of emissions credits.... More >

2/4/2010 - American Forge & Foundry Donates Equipment to Tech Schools After HDAW As attendees and vendors were saying their goodbyes at the end of Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week last month in Las Vegas, shop equipment provider American Forge & Foundry was trying to decide what to do with the heavy-duty lifting products... More >

2/4/2010 - Great Dane Announces Acquisition of Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies Great Dane Trailers announced it has acquired Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies, which makes insulated fiberglass refrigerated truck bodies, all-electric refrigeration solutions, and innovative truck refrigeration technology.... More >

2/3/2010 - ArvinMeritor Reports Fiscal Year 2010 First-Quarter Results ArvinMeritor saw profitability dramatically improve in its first fiscal quarter, thanks to growth in global markets.... More >

2/3/2010 - Cummins Reports Strong Sales and Profits in Fourth Quarter 2009 Cummins reported that the fourth quarter 2009 was the most profitable fourth quarter in Company history, eclipsing the previous mark set in 2007, but expects engine sales to plummet in the first half of 2010.... More >

2/3/2010 - Navistar Announces New Name, Direction for Mixer Business Navistar formally introduced Continental Mixers as the latest addition to the Navistar portfolio of brands at the annual World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas Tuesday.... More >

2/1/2010 - Paccar Celebrates 71 Years of Profitability Amid '09 Results Paccar announced it has reached its 71st consecutive year of net profit, with improved fourth quarter revenue and income from the third quarter.... More >

2/1/2010 - Velvac Chooses Datalliance's Vendor Managed Inventory Program Parts manufacturer and supplier Velvac has chosen to implement Datalliance's Vendor Managed Inventory, a program to help Velvac better serve its distributor customers.... More >

1/28/2010 - DTNA Partners With Cleaire For Diesel Retrofit Control Systems Daimler Trucks North America has teamed up with Cleaire Advanced Emission Controls to be the exclusive North American provider of Cleaire retrofit emission control systems.... More >

1/27/2010 - Horton to Provide Support for SACHS Driveline Clutches Horton has entered into a joint sales agreement with ZF Services (Vernon Hills, Ill.) and ZF Sachs (Northville, Mich.) to provide sales support for the SACHS line of driveline clutches to the heavy-duty aftermarket in the United States and Canada.... More >

1/27/2010 - HireRight Offers Discount to AMSA Members HireRight, which provides driver background screening and drug testing, is offering special rates to members of the American Moving & Storage Association (AMSA).... More >

1/26/2010 - Navistar Makes Continental Tires Standard for Severe Service and Medium Duty Navistar International announced that Continental truck tires are the standard fitment for all International PayStar, WorkStar, and DuraStar severe service and medium duty vehicles as of January 1, 2010.... More >

1/26/2010 - Eaton's Fourth Quarter Results Point to Better 2010 Eaton announced its fourth-quarter 2009 net income was up 29 percent over the same quarter a year ago, although figures for the full year were lower than 2008.... More >

1/26/2010 - Pegasus TransTech Moves Corporate Offices Pegasus TransTech moved its corporate headquarters into one of Tampa Bay's first LEED Certified Buildings.... More >

1/26/2010 - CAT Scale Launches Facebook Page Drivers and the general public can now follow CAT Scale on Facebook.... More >

1/26/2010 - Yokohama Tire to Raise Prices on Truck Tires Yokohama announced it will increase prices on its light and medium commercial truck tires by up to 7 percent, effective March 1.... More >

1/26/2010 - Navistar's Pure Power Technologies R&D Facility The South Carolina Department of Commerce, the Central SC Alliance and Richland County joined Pure Power Technologies, a Navistar company, in celebrating the inauguration of the company's research and development operation in the Columbia (S.C.) Technical Center Monday. ... More >

1/26/2010 - Eaton to Develop Next Generation Automated Transmission for Cummins SuperTruck Program Cummins has chosen Eaton to participate in its SuperTruck program to develop a next generation automated transmission that improves fuel efficiency in heavy-duty trucks.... More >

1/25/2010 - Doran Manufacturing Celebrates 55 Years in Business Cincinnati-based Doran Manufacturing recently celebrated being in business for 55 years, with an internal celebration with employees.... More >

1/25/2010 - Triangle Suspension to Expand Into Southeast Triangle Suspension Systems said it plans to open a new regional distribution center to serve the southeast leaf spring and suspension market.... More >

1/25/2010 - Chrome Shop Mafia Adds Flair to New Freightliner Trucks The Chrome Shop Mafia, which overhauls heavy-duty trucks, recently had the opportunity to customize two brand new Freightliner trucks, the Cascadia and Coronado.... More >

1/22/2010 - Meritor Wabco Celebrates 20 Years of Offering Parts Meritor Wabco Vehicle Control Systems has reached the 20-year mark of providing commercial vehicle braking and active safety systems.... More >

1/21/2010 - Profitable Navistar Outlines Expansion Plans Navistar International Corp. is making money, even in the toughest truck market in 50 years, and intends to make more by winning additional market share and introducing new products here and overseas... More >

1/20/2010 - ArvinMeritor Takes Home Award For Heavy Duty Remanufacturing The Heavy Duty Remanufacturing Group has honored ArvinMeritor as Heavy Duty Remanufacturer of the Year for 2009.... More >

1/20/2010 - Navistar Acquires Holley's EGR Valve Technology Navistar has acquired certain assets of Holley Performance Products, including the intellectual property rights to some of its exhaust gas recirculation valve technology.... More >

1/19/2010 - Western States, Albertsons Team Up For Food Drive Western States Equipment has partnered with Albertsons to kick off the 'Dump Hunger' campaign, a post-holiday food drive reaching fives states, including Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington.... More >

1/19/2010 - Detroit Diesel's BlueTec Technology Gets EPA Certification Detroit Diesel has announced that its engines with the BlueTec emissions control system are certified to meet 2010 emissions regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.... More >

1/19/2010 - Motor Wheel CVS in Mexico Wins Casting Plant of the Year Award The Mexico facility of Motor Wheel Commercial Vehicle Systems Inc., a Precision Partners company, has been honored as the 2009 Major Casting Plant of the Year by the Mexican Foundry Men Society.... More >

1/19/2010 - USA Harness Announces ISO Certification USA Harness, Inc., a manufacturer of electrical wiring harness systems, has become certified to the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems standard.... More >

1/18/2010 - Navistar Hires TruckMovers.com to Transport Vehicles Navistar Corp. has chosen TruckMovers.com as its primary vehicle transportation provider for its International brand vehicles at North American truck assembly plants.... More >

1/18/2010 - Ford's Transit Connect Snags North American Truck of the Year Award The Ford Motor Company snagged the North American Truck of the Year award for its 2010 Ford Transit Connect at the North American International Auto Show.... More >

1/13/2010 - DOT Officials Pay a Visit to ArvinMeritor U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood paid a visit to ArvinMeritor Monday to see the company's Class 8 technologies in action.... More >

1/13/2010 - Bendix Sheds Fan Drive Business; Chairman Retires Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems has completed the sale of its fan drive/clutch business to Kit Masters. At the same time, the company's chairman, Bob Oswald, has announced his retirement.... More >

1/12/2010 - Cummins Taps $54 Million For SuperTruck, Light-Duty Projects Cummins has received $54 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to go towards two fuel efficiency projects.... More >

1/12/2010 - Daimler Receives DOE Funding to Explore Truck Efficiency Daimler Trucks North America has received about $40 million in funding through the U.S. Department of Energy's 21st Century Truck Technology Partnership, which will be shared by DTNA's sister company, Detroit Diesel.... More >

1/12/2010 - Mercedes-Benz Announces Pricing For 2010 Sprinters Mercedes-Benz USA has announced new pricing for the 2010 line of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter commercial vans, which includes a cargo van, passenger van and a cab chassis. All models are powered by a 3.0-liter BlueTec diesel engine.... More >