K-Tec Earthmovers and Ashland Industries have announced the two scraper companies with merge.
The merger, announced at ConExpo, will create one of the largest companies of its kind in the industry.
The new organization will be headquartered in Rosenort, Manitoba, and will be led by Mikhail (Mike) Palitsky, president of K-Tec. The combined business will have manufacturing and service locations in both Rosenort, MB, Canada and Ashland, Wiconsin.
“In the weeks leading up to the announcement, the K-Tec and Ashland teams met several times and it was apparent that all of us could not be happier with the ‘fit’ of the two companies,” Palitsky said.
“We share a similar vision for the earthmoving industry and are very proud to unite our families of earthmovers under one umbrella. I want to reassure our dealers and customers that we will not be making any changes to the 2020 sales programs and product offerings.”
K-Tec and Ashland are both manufacturers of earthmoving scrapers and accessory products serving the construction, mining and agriculture markets. The merger of the companies will allow them to offer the broadest product line of earthmoving scrapers in the industry with the largest geographic footprint of dealers in the United States.
More news from ConExpo
- Case unveils Project Zeus: the industry’s first fully electric backhoe
- Canada’s Jaus Neigum wins Cat’s Global Operator Challenge
- “Overwhelming majority” of ConExpo exhibitors confirm attendance
The combination will provide shorter lead times for customers and accelerated product design and introduction, according to K-Tec.
There will be no management changes at either company as a result of the merger.
“Everyone at Ashland is very excited to be joining forces with K-Tec. The merger of our two companies will provide our dealers and customers a market leader with the broadest range of land transforming equipment available today,” said Ashland spokesperson Randy Rust.
“With the merger of our companies and continued support from our strong strategic OEM partnerships, we expect to provide industry-leading solutions and support to our customers.”
Ashland and K-Tec scrapers
Ashland Industries manufactures a full line of pull-type earthmovers for customers of all sizes. With models from 23 cubic metres for large 4 WD tractors 1.9 cubic metres for compact track loaders skid steers. Ashland also supplies construction-grade offset disc harrows for deep plowing, mixing and aerating.
Founded in 2000, K-Tec’s product range includes direct mount, train and ADT scrapers ranging from 21.4 to 48 cubic metres.
K-Tec is majority owned by an affiliate of private investment firm Owner Resource Group LLC.
“We believe this transaction supports the vision of both management teams to be a global leader in the earthmoving industry,” said ORG managing director, Jonathan Gormin.
“The combination will allow the business to expand its product offerings, enhance innovation and provide outstanding support to our dealers. We look forward to supporting the management team’s efforts to realize the full potential of the combined organization.”
