G. L. Huyett acquires HANDI-CHEK
G. L. Huyett announced its acquisition of the HANDI-CHEK packaged goods business of ITW Shakeproof Industrial Products.
"HANDI-CHEK is one of the original packaged fastener brands and we are excited at the opportunity to further strengthen the brand equity and franchise with our promotional efforts," said Greg Tabor, vice president of marketing and procurement. Tabor added that G.L. Huyett plans to convert its existing packaged goods lines over to the HANDI-CHEK brand.
HANDI-CHEK was founded in the 1970s and catered to farm and ranch stores in the upper Midwest. The brand was purchased by Rein Leitzke, which was later acquired by Bee Industries and folded into the ITW Shakeproof Industrial Products family. Along the way, HANDI-CHEK was promoted to the industrial supply channel and HANDI-CHEK kits are now advertised and sold by many of the industry's leading catalog distributors.
"The purchase of HANDI-CHEK is another step in our current growth-oriented business strategy," said Timothy O'Keeffe, G.L. Huyett CEO. This is the third acquisition G.L. Huyett has completed in the past two years. "As with all of our portfolio, we intend to intensely invest in this business and drive value that benefits our distributor customers. This deal provides us greater scale so that we can lower our costs of assembling and kitting on our current packaged business," noted O'Keeffe.
"We continue to look for strategic fits to our product and service offering," said O'Keeffe, "We have distinct management support systems to ensure that the employees and customers of retiring entrepreneurs or divesting shareholders are well taken care of and embraced into our Culture of Excellence."
ITW Shakeproof Industrial Products is a division of Illinois Tools Works Inc., specializing in the manufacture of specialty cold-headed products; wire forms including cotter pins; and helical split lock washers.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The March/April issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Joyce Lansdale and Vallen. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dirk Beveridge, Frank Hurtte, and David Kahle, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
