Bestop, a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries, has acquired Kamm Industries (DBA PRP Seats). The buy of PRP Seats is the fourth add-on acquisition completed by Bestop since being acquired by Kinderhook in August 2015.
PRP Seats is a maker of custom seats, harnesses, storage bags, and accessories for off-road vehicles such as UTVs (Utility Task Vehicle or Utility Terrain Vehicle), Jeeps and trucks. The company is most known as the seat-of-choice for UTV’s such as the Polaris RZR and Can-Am Maverick X3. PRP Seats was founded by its CEO Aaron Wedeking and is headquartered north of San Diego in Temecula, CA (www.prpseats.com).
“Now is the right time to join forces with Bestop as we believe there is a huge opportunity to leverage each other’s strengths,” said Mr. Wedeking. “We wanted to align ourselves with a partner that values the premium performance, quality and innovation that PRP Seats is known for, and Bestop was clearly the right choice for that strategy.”
According to Kinderhook, Bestop is the world’s largest manufacturer of soft tops and fabric accessories for Jeep vehicles. The company has been the sole supplier of factory soft tops on all Jeep Wranglers since 1986. Bestop was founded in 1954 and is headquartered near Denver in Louisville, CO (www.bestop.com).
“We are excited about Bestop adding another premium brand name to its stable of branded products and that PRP Seats has decided to partner with the Bestop and Kinderhook family,” said Tom Tuttle, a Managing Director of Kinderhook Industries. “We look forward to leveraging the Bestop platform to further accelerate PRP’s growth.”
The three other add-ons completed by Kinderhook for Bestop were the August 2016 buy of Cortez, CO-based Tuffy Security Products, a maker of storage products – such as steel consoles, drawers, glove boxes, and trunks – that are used in Jeeps, trucks, SUV’s and other commercial vehicles (www.tuffyproducts.com); the June 2016 buy of San Marcos, CA-based Baja Designs, a provider of off-road lighting products sold to the automotive aftermarket (www.bajadesigns.com); and in 2016 Bestop also acquired Pompano Beach, FL-based Morris Motor Company, an on-line retailer of more than 40,000 automobile parts and accessories to Jeep and 4×4 enthusiasts (www.morris4x4center.com).
“PRP Seats is the premier name in off-road seating and we are thrilled to partner with them,” said John Larson, CEO of Bestop. “The addition of this brand to the Bestop family further positions us as the leading provider of top-of-the-line off-road driving accessories.”
Kinderhook makes control investments in companies with transaction values of $25 million to $150 million in which the firm can achieve financial, operational and growth improvements. The firm makes investments in non-core divisions of public companies, management buyouts of entrepreneurial-owned businesses, troubled situations, and existing small capitalization companies lacking institutional support. Sectors of interest include healthcare services, environmental/business services, and automotive/light manufacturing. Kinderhook was founded in 2003 and is based in New York (www.kinderhook.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | February 1, 2018
