The Shyft Group in Novi, a vehicle manufacturing, assembly, and upfit company for the commercial, retail, and service specialty vehicle markets, has acquired an aluminum truck body and accessory manufacturer.
F3 MFG Inc., based in Maine, will join the Shyft Specialty Vehicles business unit and continue to go to market under the DuraMag and Magnum brands. Shyft was previously Spartan Motors and changed its name in June.
The addition of DuraMag aluminum bodies to Shyft’s product offerings follows the company’s recent acquisition of Royal Truck Body, a West Coast and Southwestern U.S. steel truck body maker.
From 2015-2019, F3 sales grew at a compound annual growth rate of 74 percent, resulting in 2019 sales of about $25 million. The transaction will be paid for with available cash and is expected to be accretive in 2021.
“The F3 team has created tremendous momentum in a short amount of time, emphasizing innovation as a key element in its growth strategy and filling market gaps in the interest of meeting customer needs,” says Daryl Adams, president and CEO of Shyft.
“We thank the management team for their efforts and welcome the full organization to The Shyft Group family. This acquisition dovetails nicely with last year’s Royal Truck Body acquisition, and will provide our expanded national network of dealers, fleet managers, owners, and operators the choice of two industry-leading brands and highly complementary product sets, wherever they do business.”
F3 operates out of a 140,000-square-foot production facility that includes aluminum manufacturing, finishing, assembly, and installation of DuraMag contractor, service, and van bodies, as well as Magnum branded headache racks (also known as cab protection racks or rear racks).
The company’s Maine location will continue to serve as its primary manufacturing and assembly facility for both product lines.
“We are delighted to be joining the Shyft family of brands,” says Bill Cleaves, founder of F3. “Shyft’s leading reputation, approach to manufacturing, and innovative culture are well aligned with F3. Together, we are excited about the opportunities to grow the DuraMag and Magnum brands and see them distributed nationally.”
Shyft’s brands include Utilimaster, Spartan RV Chassis, Builtmore Contract, and Strobes-R-Us.
