Ballymore Safety Products, a portfolio company of One Equity Partners, has acquired Valley Craft Industries.
Ballymore Safety Products is a manufacturer of steel, aluminum, and stainless steel rolling safety ladders, lifts, work platforms, fall protection systems, portable loading docks, lift tables, conveyors, stackers, and reach tools. The company’s products, most commonly used in retail and industrial environments, are sold through more than 1,800 industrial products distributors.
Ballymore is based near Philadelphia in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1945 and was originally known for inventing the rolling steel ladder. Today, the company operates six facilities in the United States with more than 270 employees.
Valley Craft Industries designs and manufactures both standard and customized industrial storage and material handling systems, including drum handling equipment, box dumpers, carts, stackers, and cabinets used in the manufacturing, warehouse, and distribution sectors.
Valley Craft was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Lake City, Minnesota, where it operates a 175,000-square-foot facility and employs over 100 people. Post-closing, Valley Craft will become Ballymore’s Midwest headquarters and will continue operating under its existing brand name while expanding its capabilities to include rolling ladder manufacturing.
One Equity Partners acquired Ballymore in April 2024 from Graycliff Partners. The acquisition of Valley Craft is the company’s second add-on acquisition under OEP ownership and follows the July 2024 buy of DOC Services, a South Carolina-based provider of asset maintenance services for material handling, electromechanical, and commercial HVAC machinery with over 450 employees and operations in 50 states.
With the acquisition of Valley Craft, Ballymore, led by Chairman Bill Frame and CEO Vincent Halma, now has approximately 500,000 square feet of domestic manufacturing capacity across facilities in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Minnesota.
“Acquiring Valley Craft represents a great step forward in our mission to provide comprehensive, innovative safety solutions for our customers,” said Mr. Frame. “Valley Craft’s expertise in material handling and storage, combined with its extensive domestic manufacturing capabilities, positions us to offer an unparalleled range of safety products and services to our customers and enables us to onshore products that have been historically imported. Combining the Valley Craft and Ballymore manufacturing operations results in approximately half a million square feet of domestic manufacturing capability. We are excited to welcome Valley Craft’s talented team to the Ballymore family and look forward to driving growth and innovation together.”
One Equity Partners is a middle-market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare, and technology sectors in North America and Europe. Its typical equity investments range from $30 million to $300 million.
In April 2022, OEP closed its latest fund, One Equity Partners VIII LP, with committed capital of $2.75 billion. The fund was oversubscribed and closed above its increased hard cap. OEP, which has offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015 and has completed more than 300 transactions globally since its founding in 2001.
Fairmount Partners was the financial advisor to Ballymore on this transaction.
© 2025 Private Equity Professional | April 11, 2025
