INDUSTRY NEWS


Accuride Buys KIC in First Addition Under Crestview Partners Accuride Corporation (Evansville,


Indiana), a supplier of components to the North American and European commercial vehicle industries that owns the Gunite casting facility in Rockford, Illinois, acquired KIC LLC (Vancouver, Washington). KIC is a supplier of wheel end components to the North American commercial vehicle industry, and designs and tests


its own products and partners with contract manufacturers. Accuride’s products include com-


mercial vehicle wheels and wheel end components and assemblies. Te addition of KIC marks Ac-


curide’s first acquisition under the ownership of Crestview Partners (New York), a private equity firm. Crestview acquired Accuride in November 2016


as a growth platform in the global com- mercial vehicle components industry. “Combining the tremendous


strengths of KIC and Accuride will enable us to increase competitiveness and expand into new market seg- ments,” Accuride president and CEO Rick Dauch said. “We at KIC are proud to join


Rick and his team at Accuride and are excited about our ability to best serve the trucking industry with our leading technology, engineering and manufacturing footprint,“ said KIC co-founder Greg Hatton, who will join the Accuride Board of Directors. With the transaction closing in


May, Dauch continues to lead the company. KIC president John Schneider,


Accuride, which supplies components to commercial vehicle industries, acquired KIC LLC.


KIC COO Omar Fakhoury and Gunite president Gregory Risch will be responsible for executing the company’s plan to integrate KIC.


Speyside Acquires Ashland Foundry


Speyside Equity Fund an- nounced the purchase of Ashland Foundry and Machine Works Inc. (Ashland, Pennsylvania) and also added West Coast Stainless Prod- ucts and Dynatek Inc. (Huntington Park, California). Ashland manufactures complex,


highly engineered steel, chrome iron and high alloy castings ranging in size from 50-7,500 lbs., primarily for OEM pump manufacturers. “Ashland and West Coast


provide a fully machined solution to their customers from optimum geographic locations on the East and West coasts. Tese businesses offer a fuller suite of solutions, both alloys and capabilities, for our existing portfolio (of ) foundries as well as entry into new end mar- kets,” said Jeffrey Stone, managing director, Speyside. Foundry general manager Ralph Clendenin told the Standard Speaker that “the attributes that Ashland


8 | MODERN CASTING June 2017


Foundry specifically has are in de- mand by the industry.” “It’s a good fit,” Clendenin said.


“Te tools and techniques that Ash- land Foundry possesses are desirable for the industry.” Per the report, no layoffs are


planned. “We acquired the business and the as-


sets. Tere were 140 employees. Since the transition, Speyside hired all 140 people,” Clendenin said. “Te assets that they have purchased over the last few years have had capital investments made into them and I would see that continuing in this operation.”


Grade School Foundry Wins Grant An art teacher in Colorado


received a $1,100 Great Idea Grant from the Tompson Education Foundation to install a foundry in his fifth-grade classrooms at Monroe and Winona Elementary Schools (Loveland, Colorado). According to a report from the


Reporter-Herald, Michael Willy created the “Fifth Grade Found- ry” after he saw a presentation where an artist melted pewter in a hot pot. He’s planning to have


students form plaster molds and pour the pewter in. “It’s like when you’re doing your


homework and you get an A,” Kim Akeley-Charron, executive direc- tor of the nonprofit that supports the Tompson School District, told Willy’s fourth-grade class, according to the report. “Tat’s what Mr. Willy just got, an A.” Prior to becoming an art


teacher, Willy was a metalsmith at a foundry.


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