Lund International Completes Acquisition of Deflecta-Shield
3 March 1998
Lund International Completes Acquisition of Deflecta-Shield
ANOKA, Minn., March 2 -- Lund International Holdings Inc.
, a leading manufacturer of appearance accessories for light
trucks, announced today that it has completed its previously announced
acquisition of Deflecta-Shield Corporation, a leading manufacturer of both
light truck and heavy truck accessories, for approximately $90 million in
cash, by acquiring all remaining outstanding shares of Deflecta-Shield Common
Stock at $16 per share.
As part of the transaction, an affiliate of Harvest Partners, a leading
New York private investment firm, invested as equity approximately $30 million
in Lund, increasing the ownership of Harvest affiliated entities to 48.6% of
the voting Common shares and approximately 60% of the equity of Lund.
Additional debt financing has been provided by a permanent loan facility
furnished by Heller Financial, Inc.
"We are pleased that Lund has successfully completed its acquisition of
this leading truck accessory manufacturer and are excited by the superb growth
prospects of the combined companies," said William J. McMahon, Chief Executive
of Lund International. "Lund's leading position and brand name strength in
accessories for pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles and minivans combined
with Deflecta-Shield's complementary strengths and history of strong revenue
gives Lund the scale and capability to lead the truck appearance accessories
market."
Ira Kleinman, a General Partner of Harvest Partners and Chairman of the
Board of Lund International, said, "With combined revenues in excess of
$110 million, Lund is now a powerhouse in the highly fragmented $1.5 billion
light truck accessories market, where no other company in the markets we serve
has annual sales in excess of $100 million. Lund is a superb platform for
further growth and we intend to stay a step ahead of the trends transforming
this business by seeking more acquisitions in this consolidating industry."
Based in Anoka, Minn., Lund International Holdings is a leading designer,
manufacturer and marketer of a broad line of fiberglass and plastic appearance
accessories for new and used light trucks, including pick-up trucks, sport
utility vehicles, minivans and other vans.
With annual sales of $72 million, Deflecta-Shield manufactures fiberglass,
plastic and aluminum appearance accessories for light trucks and heavy trucks.
Based in Indianola, Iowa, the company also supplies suspension systems and
shock absorbers for light trucks.
Harvest Partners, Inc. is a private investment firm which focuses on
management buyouts and growth financings of medium-size manufacturing,
specialty services and distribution businesses. Founded in 1981, Harvest is
best known for its expertise in structuring multinational management buyouts
and for its successful platform acquisitions. Harvest currently has in excess
of $600 million in capital under management from leading U.S. and
multinational institutions, including Asen Brown Boveri, Volvo, an equity
affiliate of Deutsche Bank, MassMutual, PPM America, and several leading
public and private U.S. pension funds.
Statements in this press release relating to the effects of the
acquisition are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and
uncertainties which could cause results to differ materially from those
anticipated. Among the factors that could cause anticipated results of the
acquisition to differ materially are the following: inability to obtain
expected efficiencies, or to obtain them in a timely manner; inability to
effectively manage a larger enterprise, to integrate the two companies, or to
control costs associated with such integration; and the representations,
warranties and covenants made in the merger agreement proving to be materially
untrue. In addition, both Lund's and Deflecta-Shield's business and
operations (and anticipated results) including the following risk factors:
consumer preference changes, risk of expansion into new distribution channels,
delays in designing, developing, testing or shipping of products, increased
competition, general economic developments and trends, developments and trends
in the light truck and automotive accessory markets and increased costs. This
is not an exhaustive list and the Company may supplement this list in future
filings or releases or in connection with the making of forward-looking
statements.
SOURCE Lund International Holdings, Inc.