CURT Group, a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity and a sales, marketing, engineering and distribution company of towing products and truck accessories, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire United Welding Services (UWS) from Thule Inc. (subsidiary to Thule Group AB). Headquartered in Perry, Florida, UWS is a leading American manufacturer of storage solutions and truck accessories for professional tradesmen and truck enthusiasts. The transaction is expected to close in June 2017.
The company says this acquisition complements CURT Group’s expanding brand portfolio and truck accessory product lines. UWS is a brand known for manufacturing high-quality American-made products. As a member of the CURT Group family of brands, they offer several U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities, as well as a full product line of cross-bed truck boxes, chest boxes, transfer tanks, hitch carriers and ladder racks.
“The acquisition of UWS marks another milestone moment in CURT Group’s history. It not only adds a new product line, customer base, and manufacturing capacity, but we are also gaining a talented and motivated team that is aligned with the CURT Group culture of the customer is KING and our associates are our greatest ASSET,” said CURT Group CEO Rock Lambert. “This acquisition reaffirms our strategy of being a leader in aftermarket truck and towing accessories. We want to offer our customers a portfolio of the industry’s leading brands with the broadest product offering in the automotive, truck and Jeep accessories market.”
In addition to a full line of towing and truck accessory products, CURT Group will be able to offer UWS customers an expanded distribution network. The expansive network of warehouses located throughout the U.S. and Canada will make UWS products more accessible than ever before.
“Becoming part of the CURT Group family is extremely exciting for UWS, and it is the perfect partnership given the adjacency of our products and customer channels,” said Jimmy Giddens, vice president, UWS. “Together, as part of CURT Group, our combined organization will be able to offer the marketplace world-class products and service, unmatched capabilities, scale and distributive manufacturing and industry-leading turnaround times.”
To learn more about UWS, visit uwsta.com.
