K-Tec Earthmovers & Ashland Industries merge for scraper success

By MEq March 15, 2020 16:47

K-Tec Earthmovers Inc (“K-Tec”) is pleased to announce its merger with Ashland Industries (“Ashland”). The merger of these two highly regarded earthmoving equipment manufacturing companies creates one of the largest companies in the industry. The newly merged organizations will be headquartered in Rosenort, MB, Canada and 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, WI, USA.

K-Tec and Ashland are leading 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 to provide exceptional service coverage. The combination will provide shorter lead times for customers and accelerated product design and introduction. There will be no management changes at either company as a result of the merger.

“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. 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. We look forward to meeting with our dealership network to gain their feedback on their needs for the future, and how we can help them each succeed,” said President, Mike Palitsky.

Earthmoving industry guru and Ashland spokesperson, Randy Rust, says “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. 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.”

K-Tec is majority-owned by an affiliate of private investment firm Owner Resource Group LLC (“ORG”). ORG Managing Director, Jonathan Gormin, said, “We are excited about our partnership with K-Tec and Ashland and believe in the long-term growth potential of the companies. We believe this transaction supports the vision of both management teams to be a global leader in the earthmoving industry. 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.”