BLS Enterprises Inc., a leading manufacturer and distributor of durable undercarriage components for tracked construction equipment, announced the acquisition of ACE Group LLC. ACE Group manufactures and distributes high-quality wear parts and components for the asphalt industry, including all major plants, pavers, live-bottom and side-dump trailers, pick-up machines and asphalt transportation equipment.
BLS is the originator in the U.S. of the polyurethane track pad (TUFPADS). A reputation that was built on TUFPADS track pads has grown over the past 35 years with new product lines, including a wide variety of poly pads, rubber pads for most makes and models of excavators and mini excavators, rubber tracks and steel undercarriage parts. With Ace Group’s offices in Minnesota and Canada, this acquisition places BLS in a strategic position to better serve a base of more than 5,000 customers in the United States and around the world.
“ACE Group has been an industry leader and producer of asphalt plant and paver wear parts for over 25 years,” said Matthew Stoughton, president and owner of BLS Enterprises. “We’re proud to welcome their highly-regarded staff, engineers and manufacturers into our family-owned business and look forward to building on the strong foundations of both organizations to create a customer-forward experience that is unparalleled in the industry.”
“There is excellent synergy between the undercarriage parts that BLS excels at and Ace Group’s product lines,” said Alan McKenzie, Ace Group owner. “This synergy will allow the new organization to better serve the existing client base of both companies with high quality materials, delivering excellent value and support with extensive inventories on hand.”
“On a personal level, I’ve known Alan for a long time and have the deepest respect for the sweat and tears he, his wonderful family and his excellent team have put into their world-class business,” added Stoughton. “The same values and principles that govern BLS are also ingrained in Ace Group, which should help facilitate a smooth transition.”
To best serve both customer bases, all of Ace Group’s operations and personnel will continue to function as is.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.