DexKo Global, a portfolio company of KPS Capital Partners, has acquired Kodiak Trailer Components, a manufacturer of light and medium duty axle brakes.
Kodiak’s product line includes disc brake sets ranging from 2000 lb. axle sets through 14000 lb. axle sets. The company’s customers include all types of trailer manufacturers including marine, RV, horse, commercial/industrial, cargo, and even certain operations from the military. Kodiak, led by its President Cameron Rapp, was founded in 1989 and is based in Ft. Worth, TX (www.kodiaktrailer.com).
“We are excited to add the well-known, premium brake brand, Kodiak, to the Dexter portfolio,” said Fred Bentley, CEO of DexKo Global. “Combining our companies will collectively offer our customers the best trailer components and service in the trailer industry.”
DexKo Global designs and manufactures trailer axles and other running gear components (the parts of a motor vehicle not producing or controlling power, including the frame, suspension, steering, and brakes, are referred to as running gear). The company’s products, in addition to axles, include brakes, hubs and drums, suspension components, magnets and seals. DexKo products are used by original equipment manufacturers in the utility trailer, recreational vehicle, heavy duty, manufactured housing, agricultural, marine, military, cargo, horse/livestock, and specialty trailer markets.
DexKo Global sells its products through a network of distributors in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Dexter Axle Company and changed its name to DexKo Global in January 2016 (Dexter Axle had acquired AL-KO Vehicle Technology in December 2015). DexKo Global has more than 4,500 employees and is headquartered near Detroit in Novi, MI with production facilities in Indiana, Georgia, Oklahoma, California, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Ontario, and Alberta (www.dexko.com) (www.dexteraxle.com).
“As we carry out our DexKo 2020 plan, we continue to see opportunities to improve our product offering through the type of value-added acquisitions that we have recently announced,” added Mr. Bentley. “Our new owner, KPS, is providing full support to add highly engineered and high growth products to our globally leading running gear product offering.” KPS Capital Partners acquired DexKo Global from The Sterling Group in July 2017.
KPS Capital Partners is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a group of private equity funds with approximately $5.2 billion of assets under management that invests in restructurings, turnarounds and other special situations. KPS targets manufacturing and industrial companies that are going through a period of transition or experiencing operating or financial difficulties. The firm’s portfolio companies have aggregate annual revenues of approximately $6 billion, operate 152 manufacturing plants in 30 countries, and employ over 46,000 people worldwide. KPS Capital Partners is headquartered in New York (www.kpsfund.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | January 23, 2018
