Oak Hill Capital Agrees To Buy Safe Fleet Holdings

Ownership of Safe Fleet Holdings has changed hands, with Oak Hill Capital Partners agreeing to buy the business from The Sterling Group.

Based in Belton, Mo., Safe Fleet supplies safety products including mirrors and vehicle event recorders, lighting products, ladders and storage racks, doors and bumpers. Its customers are companies that operate commercial and industrial trucks and trailers, emergency vehicles, buses, rail and recreational vehicles.

Safe Fleet has 11 manufacturing locations nationwide.

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“We have tremendous respect for what Safe Fleet has accomplished,” said Brian Cherry, a partner at Oak Hill., a private equity firm in New York. “The company has built a unique and growing portfolio of market-leading safety and productivity solutions.”

Cherry said the investment firm will support Safe Fleet through its next phase of development, which will include organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

Safe Fleet was formed in 2013 when The Sterling Group acquired ROM Corp., a manufacturer of roll-up doors, and Specialty Manufacturing Inc. from Century Park Capital. The company traces its origin to the early 20th century with the founding of Elkhart Brass in 1902 and Bustin Industrial Products in 1928.

“Sterling and the Safe Fleet team successfully executed our shared vision to create a leading safety solutions company serving an expanding group of fleet customers,” Safe Fleet President John Knox said in a statement Jan. 9. “We believe our new partnership with Oak Hill … will even further accelerate Safe Fleet’s growth trajectory as a highly differentiated safety and productivity solutions platform.”