Truck-Lite Co. LLC, has announced that Genstar Capital has made a significant investment in Truck-Lite, provider of safety lighting, filtration systems and telematics services for commercial vehicles. Truck-Lite was owned by affiliates of BDT Capital Partners, Koch Equity Development and Penske Corp. As part of its investment, Genstar acquired BDT and Koch’s ownership interests.

Brian Kupchella, Truck-Lite’s CEO, commented, “We are very excited to partner with Genstar. We believe its investment philosophy aligns extremely well with Truck-Lite’s long-term strategy and will allow us to accelerate our growth plans, continue to invest in new products and markets and improve our value proposition to our customers and partners.”

Rob Rutledge, managing director at Genstar, added, “Truck-Lite has a leading position in attractive market segments, with a history of innovation, product development and industry superior technology. For over 60 years, they have worked to build strong brand recognition and we see opportunity to support the continued expansion of the business through growth in new products, technologies and Truck-Lite’s Road Ready telematics systems and look to further expedite that growth by pursuing strategic acquisitions.”

Patrick Conroy, CFO of Penske Corp. and member of the Truck-Lite board of directors, commented, “Truck-Lite serves as a valuable partner to many of the world’s largest commercial vehicle fleets, OEMs and distributors. Truck-Lite has a strong history of developing new innovations that make them leaders in providing technologically advanced products that allow truck fleets to operate with improved safety and reduced costs. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Truck-Lite and supporting Genstar to accelerate Truck-Lite’s growth.”

Kupchella continued, “We thank BDT and Koch for their leadership and support over the past several years. They have been true business partners and stewards of the Truck-Lite brand and we look forward to working with their companies for years to come.”

Baird and Barclay acted as financial advisers and Jones Day acted as legal advisor to Truck-Lite. Weil acted as legal advisor to Genstar.