Norwest Equity Partners’ Attachment Technologies Incorporated Announces Name Change in New Branding Strategy; Portfolio Company Closes its Fourth Acquisition in 12 Months.
Published in: Business Wire
Date: 10/19/2004
MINNEAPOLIS — Norwest Equity Partners (“NEP”) today announced the name change of its portfolio company Attachment Technologies Incorporated (“ATI”). ATI’s new name, Paladin, will take effect immediately. In addition, Paladin today closed on its acquisition of Portland, Oregon-based Jewell Manufacturing, Inc. (“Jewell”), the company’s fourth acquisition since October 2003.
The name change reflects ATI’s aggressive expansion strategy and goal to become the industry’s largest independent manufacturer of a full line of attachment products. Paladin makes highly complex and differentiated attachments such as backhoes, utility drills, mobile shears, trenchers, augers, cold planers, tillers, concrete demolition tools, coupler systems and families of heavy duty wheel loader and excavator buckets for use in the forestry, construction, utility, demolition and recycling industries. Paladin’s strategy is to move toward highly engineered and value added products to satisfy the demanding requirements of its broad base of customers. The Paladin brands include these well known names: Badger, Bradco(R), C&P, Genesis, JRB, McMillen(R), Pengo(R), The Major(R) and now Jewell.
“The new name, Paladin, reflects the new goal of the company and its brand teams to aggressively serve the construction equipment attachment markets by providing innovative, productive, flexible and reliable products,” explained Bill Van Sant, operating partner at NEP and Paladin’s Chairman and CEO. “Paladin stands for a heroic champion, a defender of a cause, a warrior. Paladin is the foundation for the company’s strong brands, which will retain their own individual identities in the marketplace.”
Paladin also announced the acquisition of Jewell, expanding its presence in the forestry, construction, demolition and recycling markets. Jewell’s products include a broad family of customized replacement booms specifically designed for excavators and material handling equipment serving these markets. The company also produces a broad line of attachments for application in these markets. Jewell becomes the ninth leading brand in the company’s attachment offerings and supports the company’s strategy to move toward highly engineered and value added products for application in broad sectors of the marketplace.
Jewell will remain in Portland, Oregon and will operate from a new and expanded manufacturing and assembly facility to be constructed within the next year. The company will join its sister company Genesis, the leading manufacturer of mobile shears and concrete demolition tools, in Paladin’s Demolition, Recycling and Forestry Group. Jim Kirkpatrick, who founded Jewell in 1989, will remain with the company and will be involved in product and market development activities. In addition, he will assist the Genesis management team in their efforts to provide fully integrated packages, including Jewell long front booms and Genesis attachments, to their customers. Genesis is located in Superior, Wisconsin.
“Paladin continues to look for acquisition opportunities that will broaden its families of construction equipment attachments and allow the company to enter new niches of the marketplace,” shared Timothy DeVries, NEP managing general partner and Paladin board member. “The acquisitions of Genesis, CAM, JRB and Jewell in the last 12 months have accelerated the company’s strategy to effectively serve and partner with its OEM, dealer and rental customers,” DeVries continued.
ABOUT PALADIN
Established in 1964, Paladin, formerly Attachment Technologies Incorporated, has nearly 900 employees worldwide and is one of the nation’s largest independent manufacturers and distributors of construction attachment products. Paladin’s corporate office is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with manufacturing and distribution facilities in California, Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, Tennessee, Oregon and Wisconsin. The company also has a sourcing office located in Shanghai, China.
Paladin products are produced under these national brand names: Badger, Bradco, C&P, Genesis, JRB, McMillen, Pengo, The Major and Jewell. Each brand manufactures and distributes broad families of attachments for application in the forestry, light and heavy construction, utility and utility contractors, and demolition and recycling markets. All of the brand products are distributed through a national base of independent dealers, distributors, rental companies and original equipment manufacturers.
For more information about Paladin, visit www.paladinbrands.com or contact:
Jim Thebeau
319-298-0242, ext. 231
jthebeau@hrb.ideas.com
ABOUT NEP
Norwest Equity Partners provides middle market companies with the capital they need to reach their goals. NEP takes pride in their extensive resources, carefully tailored transactions, meaningful partnerships, and continuing success. Since NEP’s founding in 1961, they have earned a reputation as one of the premier private equity investment firms in the United States. Currently, NEP has in excess of $3 billion in capital under management. NEP has offices located in Minneapolis and Los Angeles. Visit NEP’s Web site at www.nep.com.
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