Jeff Ott, president and CEO of Archbold, OH-based Bil-Jax, Inc. announced Dec. 18 that the company was acquired from its German-based parent plettac AG by a partnership between Bil-Jax management and Indianapolis-based Centerfield Capital.

Details of the purchase, which became effective December 12, 2003, were not disclosed. The 57-year-old leading U.S. manufacturer of scaffold, scaffolding systems, and major supplier of aerial lifts, hydraulic lift trailers and event staging and seating equipment, is now financially and strategically poised to expand its product offerings and focus more on supporting customers.

The Bil-Jax management-led buyout team includes Ott, Vice President of Sales & Marketing Chuck Hutchinson, Vice President of Finance Tom Truesdale, Engineering Manager Dave Brinegar and Director of Purchasing Steve Fryman, along with the investment firm of Indianapolis, IN-based Centerfield Capital.

Bil-Jax employs more than 200 people at its 325,000 sq.-ft. manufacturing facility and headquarters in Archbold, OH.

“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,” stated Ott. “Our team is one of the strongest within the construction equipment industry today and our premium Bil-Jax brand product lines and success in the marketplace attest to our abilities to deliver what the sales channels and contractors need today to be successful.”

Bil-Jax’s former parent company, plettac AG, had been forced into bankruptcy in 2003 due to economic conditions in Germany and throughout Europe. Although Bil-Jax, an Ohio Corporation, 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.

Since 1947, Bil-Jax has become a leading manufacturer of scaffolding and supplier of aerial lifts, equipment trailers and portable staging and bleachers. Bil-Jax offers more than 6,000 different products for the construction, industrial and rental equipment industries.

For more information, call 800/537-0540 or visit www.biljax.com.

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