Livingstone drives service truck body leader to strategic buyer
Livingstone’s Industrial team is pleased to announce the sale of Royal Truck Body (“Royal” or “the Company”) to Spartan Motors, Inc. (“Spartan”) (NASDAQ: SPAR). Livingstone acted as exclusive financial advisor to Royal.
“We are thrilled with the outcome. Livingstone guided the Royal team through an incredibly efficient and competitive sale process. The Livingstone team was in command every step of the way, provided sage counsel and demonstrated a unique ability to construct a creative process to achieve our objectives,” said Dudley DeZonia, founder and President, Royal Truck Body. “Spartan represents a close fit with our company values and culture; our customers and employees will both benefit as Royal Truck Body and Spartan combine to offer new, innovative solutions and services.”
A family-owned business founded in 1971, Royal Truck Body offers a comprehensive portfolio of commercial service truck bodies and accessories serving a diverse set of end-markets, including commercial dealerships, fleet accounts, utility providers, and municipalities. Royal serves its customer base from its corporate headquarters in Carson, California, and five branch locations located in Northern California, Arizona and Texas.
“This is an exciting day for Spartan,” said Daryl Adams, Spartan President and CEO. “Our acquisition of Royal Truck Body marks the continued execution of our strategic plan and delivers on the promise of nationwide expansion for the benefit of our customers, suppliers, team members and shareholders.”
The acquisition is part of Spartan’s strategic plan, helping achieve EBITDA margin growth, increased revenue, and geographic expansion by way of a coast-to-coast manufacturing and distribution footprint. Royal joins Spartan’s Specialty Chassis and Vehicles business unit and, in recognition of the strength of the brand, will continue to go to market under the Royal Truck Body brand.
Spartan is the North American leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing and assembly for the commercial and retail vehicle industries. Respected and well-known in the industry for quality, durability, aftermarket product support, and first-to-market innovation, Spartan employs approximately 2,500 associates, and operates facilities in Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, California, Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, South Dakota; Saltillo, Mexico; and Lima, Peru.
“It was a privilege and honor to represent Dudley and the Royal Truck Body team,” said Karl Freimuth, Partner at Livingstone. “After taking inventory of our client’s objectives and position in the service truck body market, Livingstone’s Industrial team designed an artisanal, highly targeted process structure that closed in just over four months from the initial organizational meeting. The Royal Truck transaction represents another example of Livingstone’s distinguished track record of selling mid-market companies to high-profile strategic acquirers.”
Royal is Livingstone’s 124th transaction completed since 2018 and the 46th global industrial transaction closed in the same timeframe following the sales of Artistic Carton to Graphic Packaging, The Mason Company to Midmark Corporation, and the divestment of Rheinhütte Pumpen to ITT Inc.
Heath Steinbeck LLP provided legal counsel and Moss Adams LLP provided accounting services to Royal.
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