Heil Environmental has sold its truck equipment business, consisting of the Heil Truck Equipment Group and Heil South distributorship, to Truck Bodies and Equipment International Inc., a portfolio company of Kirtland Capital Partners. Terms of the sale, announced Wednesday, Aug. 30, were not disclosed.
Heil says the sale enables it to concentrate all of its resources on continuing to build its core refuse business. Based in Chattanooga, Tenn., Heil manufactures a full line of refuse collection and recycling vehicles at its flagship manufacturing facility in Fort Payne, Ala. Parts Central, a Heil company, offers replacement parts for most refuse and recycling vehicle brands. Heil subsidiary Bayne Premium Lift Systems produces hydraulic refuse cart lifters in Greenville, S.C. Heil Europe manufactures refuse collection vehicles and replacement parts for the European market in Hillend, Scotland.
The Heil Truck Equipment Group manufactures and mounts a complete line of dump bodies, snow/ice bodies and hoists at its plant in Tishomingo, Miss. Products include the Yardbird, Sidewinder and HPT dump bodies featuring Heil’s patented DuraClass design. Heil South is a company-owned truck equipment distributorship in Austell, Ga., selling and servicing dump bodies, hoists, rolloffs and knuckleboom loaders.
“Heil has a long, proud history in the truck equipment business and our employees have done a great job of serving our customers,” says Michael Jobe, Heil president and chief executive officer. “After careful study, the Heil management team determined that we could best serve all of our customers by selling our truck equipment division and associated sales branch to a company that is exclusively focused on that market and its customers. This move allows us to likewise concentrate solely on the refuse customers that are the core of our business. Moving forward, all of our efforts will be centered on supplying haulers worldwide with the most innovative refuse collection and recycling vehicles, replacement parts and cart lifters that offer the overall lowest total cost of ownership.”
The sale includes Heil’s 204,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Tishomingo, the Heil South sales and service facility outside of Atlanta, and the use of certain intellectual property. The Heil Truck Equipment Group and Heil South are now part of TBEI, which was formed by Kirtland in 2005 by combining three major truck equipment companies: Crysteel Manufacturing, Ox Bodies and Rugby Manufacturing, adding Hardee Equipment Co. in 2006. TBEI’s corporate headquarters is in Eden Prairie, Minn.
“Heil dump bodies and equipment are recognized throughout the industry for their quality, design innovations and longevity,” says Dale Pilger, TBEI CEO. “We are very pleased to add this premier manufacturer to our roster so that we can continue to expand the wide range of high-performance products that we offer our customers across North America.”
The changeover will be virtually invisible to customers. TBEI has indicated that it will keep the manufacturing facility in Tishomingo open with its 140-person work force intact. Under the sales agreement, all existing orders will be filled, current vehicles will be supported and warranties now in effect will be honored. The truck equipment distributor network and sales force is expected to remain unchanged.
