Safe Fleet, A Portfolio Company of The Sterling Group, Acquires Hadley's Transit Mirror Product Line

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Jul 01, 2015, 05:17 ET

HOUSTON, July 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sterling Group, a private equity firm based in Houston, Texas, announced that its portfolio company, Safe Fleet Investments LLC, has completed the acquisition of the transit mirror product line for buses, shuttles and coaches from Hadley. This marks Safe Fleet's fifth acquisition in the last eighteen months, as well as the second corporate carve-out.

Based in Elkhart, Indiana, Hadley's transit mirrors business is the North American market leader for transit bus mirrors. The combination of Hadley's transit mirror business with Safe Fleet's existing transit offerings establishes Safe Fleet as the leading supplier of specialty safety components for transit buses. The acquisition further broadens Safe Fleet's extensive, safety-oriented product offering, in line with its on-going growth strategy.

"We are delighted to welcome the Hadley transit mirrors business into the Safe Fleet family. This acquisition supports our vision to build the leading global provider of safety solutions for fleet vehicles," said John R. Knox, President & CEO of Safe Fleet. "Additionally, Safe Fleet is well positioned to offer our full product line of mirrors, hatches, lighting, interiors and video to the school bus, motor coach, RV, shuttle bus, emergency and military vehicle markets."

"Safe Fleet will continue to pursue strategic growth across the fleet vehicle market, expanding our product offering both organically and through acquisition," said Brian Henry, a Partner at The Sterling Group. "The company has nearly doubled in size during its eighteen month partnership with Sterling, and with that has come the expanded ability to serve our important fleet customers."

Sterling utilized its extensive experience executing over 22 corporate carve-outs to assist Safe Fleets' acquisition of the Hadley transit mirrors product line.

About Safe Fleet

Headquartered in Belton, MO, Safe Fleet owns a portfolio of brands that provide increased functionality and integrated solutions for fleet vehicle manufacturers and operators around the world. These brands serve five major markets including: emergency services, bus and rail, truck and trailer, utility, and industrial. With 1,000 employees, the Safe Fleet family of brands operates almost 600,000 square feet of manufacturing space and targets markets with increasing demand for operator, passenger, and pedestrian safety. For more information about Safe Fleet please visit www.safefleet.net.

About The Sterling Group

Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity investment firm that targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies range from $100 million to $500 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 46 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $10.0 billion. Currently, Sterling has over $1.2 billion of assets under management through two active funds. Current portfolio companies include CST Industries, Universal Fiber Systems, Express, Saxco International, Liqui-Box, Dexter Axle, Safe Fleet, Specified Air Solutions, American Bath Group and ProcessBarron.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results and all investments are subject to loss.

SOURCE The Sterling Group