Accuride Corp., a leading supplier of components to the North American and European commercial vehicle industries – announced it has reached an agreement to acquire KIC LLC and certain of its affiliated entities. KIC, headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, is a leading supplier of wheel end components to the North American commercial vehicle industry.

The addition of KIC marks Accuride’s first acquisition under the ownership of Crestview Partners, a leading New York-based private equity firm. Crestview acquired Accuride in November 2016 as a growth platform in the global commercial vehicle components industry. The transaction is expected to close in the current quarter of 2017.

“Combining the tremendous strengths of KIC and Accuride will enable us to increase competitiveness and expand into new market segments,” said Accuride President and CEO Rick Dauch. “Our similar product and technology offerings mesh well; while the combination of our highly complementary business models gives us greater capacity and ability to flex up and down in response to industry cycles and customer demand.

“We are excited to work with KIC co-founder Greg Hatton and his leadership team to fully leverage the strengths of both KIC and our Gunite business. Together, we will incorporate KIC’s customer service discipline, technology resources and efficient manufacturing and distribution network into our product and service offering to our OEM and aftermarket customers here in North America, as well as to select global markets.”

“We at KIC are proud to join Rick and his team at Accuride and are excited about our ability to best serve the trucking industry with our leading technology, engineering and manufacturing footprint,“ said Greg Hatton, who will join the Accuride board of directors. “The combination of Gunite and KIC will enhance the strengths and cost efficiencies of both companies, allowing us to provide our customers with superior wheel end products and service.”