Building products producer and distributor Patrick Industries Inc. continues to ride the vigorous recreational vehicle market in the state of Indiana.
The Elkhart, Ind., firm announced Feb. 17 that it acquired Better Way Partners LLC — which does business as Better Way Products — a major maker of fiberglass components for RV, marine and transit vehicle markets, for about $40 million.
The purchase “is a natural fit with our other recently acquired fiberglass operations,” stated Patrick Industries President and CEO Todd Cleveland, in a news release.
In November Patrick Industries bought Charleston Corp., which makes fiberglass composites and thermoformed ABS parts for the same markets that Better Way has supplied. The purchaser said Charleston would continue to operate in Bremen, Ind.
With Better Way, Patrick Industries gets operating facilities in New Paris, Better Way's headquarters plant, and in Bremen and Syracuse, Ind. The operations will continue on a stand-alone basis.
The acquired business gives Patrick Industries “the opportunity to further expand our expertise, presence and footprint in the fiberglass and fiberglass components market within the industries we serve,” Cleveland explained.
Better Way's sales in 2015 should hit $50 million, Patrick Industries forecast. Charleston's 2014 sales were estimated at $20 million.
A Patrick Industries spokeswoman declined to provide more details about the Better Way deal.
Patrick Industries' sales to RV producers, many of which are based in Indiana, jumped 34 percent in the third quarter of 2014. That performance buoyed the firm's total sales in the period to $188.1 million, up 28 percent vs. a year ago.