Turnspire Capital Partners has formed Crane Carrier Holdings to acquire the specialty vehicle group of Hines Corporation, a manufacturer of heavy-duty truck chassis, complete vehicles and aftermarket parts.
Crane Carrier’s products are used in the work truck industry and include custom, severe-service chassis and purpose-built vehicles used in the refuse and recycling, infrastructure maintenance, ground support, agriculture, oil and gas, and concrete mixer markets.
Brand names included in the transaction are Crane Carrier Company (truck chassis), Crane Carrier Company Engineered Chassis, and CyKlone Mixers with Kimble Technology. Crane Carrier is headquartered 90 miles south of Cleveland in New Philadelphia, OH (www.cranecarrier.com).
Crane Carrier will continue to be led by its President and CEO Randy Rollins. Mr. Rollins and other members of the management team invested alongside Turnspire in this transaction. “We are excited to embark on the next chapter of Crane Carrier’s growth as an independent company,” said Mr. Rollins. “In Turnspire, we have a financial partner with whom we share the same vision, the same drive to excel and the same values.”
At closing, Turnspire added two industry executives, Jim Marcotuli and Scott Thompson, to the board of Crane Carrier. Mr. Marcotuli is the former Chief Executive Officer and President of North American Bus Industries, a manufacturer of heavy-duty buses, which was sold by Cerberus Capital to New Flyer in June 2013.
“We are thrilled to acquire Crane Carrier, which is an ideal fit with our operationally focused investment strategy,” said Ilya Koffman, a managing partner at Turnspire. “The company capitalized on its strong brands and customer relationships to grow its refuse and specialty truck business as a non-core division of Hines Corporation. As an independent company under Turnspire’s ownership and led by its talented management team, Crane Carrier can build upon its foundation to achieve operational excellence and sustainable growth.”
Turnspire invests in companies with revenues between $50 million and $400 million and valuations up to $125 million. The firm prefers companies that are underperformers and/or in need of an operational turnaround. Sectors of interest include aerospace and defense; automotive; capital equipment; chemicals; consumer; construction and building materials; food and beverage; industrial equipment; logistics; metals and metal fabrication; paper and packaging; and plastics and synthetic materials. Turnspire is based in New York (www.turnspirecap.com).
“An iconic brand, Crane Carrier Company is an ideal fit for our strategy of investing in high-quality businesses in specialty markets,” added Mr. Koffman.
Hines Corporation, the seller of Crane Carrier, is privately held and owns a group of industrial manufacturing companies operating in the transportation, energy, construction and commercial cleaning sectors. The company was founded in 1958 and is based in the western Michigan city of Spring Lake (www.hinescorp.com).
Hines acquired Tulsa-based Crane Carrier in June 2013. The company’s operations were closed in June 2014 and were consolidated into Hines’ existing facilities in Philadelphia, OH.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 3, 2019
