Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/95873
reporter | by Equipment World staff American Augers, Trencor retain brand identities after acquisition incorporated into The Charles Machine Works (CMW) fold, says Tiffany Sewell-Howard, CEO. "American Augers (AA) will remain a separate entity, similar to our HammerHead acquisi- tion, and production of Tren- cor products will be moved to the AA facility in Ohio," said Sewell-Howard in an interview with Equipment World. CMW, known for the Ditch A Witch brand, bought the two lines from Astec Industries, in a $55 million deal expected to be fi nalized by the end of this year. "For the past several years, we've focused on our vision of becoming the CMW fam- ily of companies, the authority in the underground construc- tion business. This addition is a great step towards that vision," Sewell-Howard says. "We want to address all the needs of the underground market." The deal gives CMW high horsepower models in both trenchers and drills. The larg- est current Ditch Witch trencher is the 115-horsepower RT115. Trencor models range from the 250-horsepower T765 to the 1,300-horsepower T1860. merican Augers drills and Trencor trenchers will retain their brand identities as they are With the American Augers and Trencor acquisition, the Charles Machine Works gains high horsepower directional drills and trenchers. On the drill side, Ameri- can Auger models start at the 60,000-pound max pullback DD- 6, and top off at the 1.1-million- pound max pullback DD-1100. Ditch Witch's current largest model is the 100,000-pound JT100. "We see tremendous growth in the pipeline and water and sewer markets, which require large machines," Sewell- Howard says. CMW plans to keep the American Augers facility in West Salem, Ohio, and transfer the Trencor line, now manufactured in Tennessee, to the Ohio plant. Also retained: the direct-to-mar- ket sales approach of both lines. "I believe American Augers has a strong brand and strong relationships with customers, and we are going to continue to support those," Sewell-Howard says. "As we go forward, we will look at how we can leverage the entire CMW family of companies to help these brands be even more successful." While there is some overlap with these lines and the tradi- tional Ditch Witch customers, the acquisition gives CMW the ability to expand its reach. "We now have the opportunity to cultivate these relationships by providing broader solutions," Sewell-Howard says. "They are going to be a tremendous addition to the CMW fam- ily of companies. We are able to strengthen our competitive stance, expand our capabilities, and offer new products, new brands, and new channels to the underground construction market." – Marcia Gruver Doyle MGruver@randallreilly.com EquipmentWorld.com | December 2012 13