22.12.2003

Management buyout team acquires Bil-Jax

US-based access equipment manufacturer and supplier, Bil-Jax, has been acquired from its German-based parent company plettac AG by a partnership between Bil-Jax management and Indianapolis-based Centerfield Capital, effective December 12.

The Bil-Jax management-led buyout team includes president and CEO, Jeff Ott, vice president of sales and marketing, Chuck Hutchinson, vice president of finance, Tom Truesdale, engineering manager, Dave Brinegar and director of purchasing, Steve Fryman and Centerfield Capital. Bil-Jax employs more than 200 people at its 325,000 square-foot manufacturing facility and headquarters in Archbold, Ohio in the US.

Commenting on the purchase Ott said: “With the conclusion of this management buyout after a two-year process, we are excited to now serve our customers with the focus and benefits that comes from a management with a financially vested interest in the company.”

Bil-Jax’s former parent company plettac AG, had been forced into bankruptcy in 2003 due to very difficult economic conditions in Germany and throughout Europe. Although Bil-Jax had its own independent capital structure under plettac, the pressure to grow in a difficult economy had been intense since it was one of the few self-supporting companies under the plettac umbrella.