Heavy-gauge thermoformers and suppliers of truck bed liners and tonneau covers, Penda Corp. (Portage, WI) and Durakon Industries (Lapeer, MI), will merge the respective No. 1 and 2 suppliers in the market to create the largest, global supplier of truck bed liners. Penda, owned by private equity firm Resilience Capital Partners (Cleveland) since August 2007, and Durakon, owned by private equity firm Littlejohn & Co. LLC (Greenwich, CT) since 1999, will join in a new company that retains the Penda name and is headquartered in Portage, WI with Resilience acting as the majority owner by a slim margin, according to Cathy Cromey, VP corporate services for Penda.

Cromey described the merger as complementary, especially from a technology standpoint, with Durakon bringing shuttle presses and twin-sheet thermoforming to the combined company, and Penda adding co-extrusion, among other technologies. In terms of combined revenue—approximately $100 million—and units, the new company will have a commanding lead in the market for truck bed liners. Cromey said at this time there are no intentions of closing any facilities, and that Penda will retain Ulf Buergel as president and CEO of the new company, while Ed Gniewek, Durakon’s CEO, will step down. Jim Smith, Durakon’s CFO, and John Montagna, VP advanced products, will be retained.

In addition to the sites in Michigan and Wisconsin, the combined company will also have manufacturing in Clinton, TN and Lerma, Mexico. Durakon, which expanded its business in March 2004 to include paint-film technologies at a site in Clinton, TN (more here), supplies bed liners, tonneau covers, and cargo van panels for OEM and aftermarket supply. It used the paint-film technology to move into decorative, thermoformed thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) exterior panels that applied laminated paint films or co-extruded color layers for Class A running boards, stone guards, rocker panels, and bumper fascias.

Penda has been thermoforming truck bed liners since 1983, doing so independently since 1994, when it split from its parent company of the same name. The company’s manufacturing footprint includes 13 rotary, sheet-fed, four-station vacuum-forming machines; mold and fixture capabilities; one 85-ton injection molding machine; and in-house sheet fabrication via five, 6-inch co-extrusion lines. In 2003, the company launched Penda Premier Solutions as a custom thermoforming unit.

A press release said the new company would have three strategic units—automotive components, automotive accessories, and custom thermoforming. The first business unit, Penda Automotive Components, will serve automotive OEMs as a Tier One supplier, while the second unit, Penda Automotive Accessories, will target aftermarket products with items like truck bed liners and tonneau covers. The company describes the final unit, Penda Premier Solutions, as a custom thermoformer targeting a variety of industrial applications.

Founded in 2001, Resilience has acquired 14 companies with revenues exceeding $750 million. Littlejohn & Co. LLC was founded in 1996 and manages three funds with committed capital of approximately $1.6 billion. So-called drop-in bed liners have come under some pressure from spray-in polyurethane-based systems.—[email protected]