Rocla Concrete Tie, a portfolio company of Altus Capital, has acquired KSA Limited Partnership, a 50/50 joint venture of Koppers, Inc. and Lehigh Hanson.
KSA manufactures concrete ties, concrete turnout ties, concrete grade crossing ties and other concrete products used by the railroad industry. Customers of KSA include Class 1 railroads (those with annual revenues of at least $250 million) and other commuter and transit companies and systems primarily in the Eastern United States. KSA was founded in 1992 and is headquartered and has its manufacturing operation east of Cincinnati in Portsmouth, OH (no website found).
According to Altus Capital, KSA is a market leader in the concrete turnout market and a major supplier to the concrete grade crossing market. The acquisition of KSA provides Rocla with an expanded customer base as well as additional concrete products. “We are very excited that this business, led by General Manager Scott Craig, complements Rocla’s strategic initiative of expanding its product solutions to the railroad industry,” said Peter Urquhart, Rocla President and CEO. “We expect that the KSA acquisition will provide a platform for further opportunities to grow the business.”
Rocla Concrete Tie – acquired by Altus in May 2013 – manufactures pre-stressed concrete railroad ties and turnout ties for Class I railroads, commuter passenger operations, transit authorities and industrial operations. Major customers include Amtrak, Burlington Northern and Union Pacific, as well as other Class I railroads, light rail/transit projects, high speed corridors and industrial/ports. The company has manufacturing plants in Pueblo, CO; Amarillo, TX; Bear, DE; and San Jose Iturbide, Mexico. Rocla was founded in 1987 and is based near Denver in Lakewood, CO (www.roclatie.com).
Rocla concrete railroad tiesKoppers (NYSE: KOP) is a chemical and materials manufacturing company. The company was founded in 1912 by Heinrich Koppers and is based in Pittsburgh, PA (www.koppers.com).
Lehigh Hanson is a supplier of cement, aggregates, ready mixed concrete, asphalt and other building materials to markets throughout North America. The company was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Irving, TX (www.lehighhanson.com). In 2007 the company was acquired by the Heilderberg Cement Group which is headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany (www.heidelbergcement.com/en).
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