AL-KO owner DexKO buys BPW

The American owners of the AL-KO brand of caravan chassis and hitch systems, DexKo, announced recently that it has bought the German trailer running gear maker, BPW.

The acquisition will help the company develop its AL-KO business. It would make DexKO a huge player in the caravan chassis market.

DexKo CEO, Fred Bentley said:

“We look forward to being able to access the proven expertise of BPW Fahrzeugtechnik. True to our corporate theme "together is better", we will be utilizing the available synergies to continue the dynamic, further development of our companies."

AL-KO president and CEO, Harald Hiller, said:

"The combination of AL-KO Vehicle Technology and BPW Fahrzeugtechnik will strengthen the portfolio of our core business, provide us access to proven know-how and guarantee our customers top products of the highest quality."

Before the purchase can go through, the German Antitrust Authority has to approve the deal.

DexKo itself, is up for sale, according to a recent report on Reuters. Private equity firm, The Sterling Group, owns a major stake in DexKo and has hired an investment bank to erun an auction for the business.

The report suggests that DexKo could be worth more than $1.6 billion.