K-Tec Earthmovers and Ashland Industries, market leaders in pull-pan scraper earthmoving products, announced the acquisition of Metalcraft of GA Inc.

This acquisition provides a facility presence in southeastern United States along with expanded product offerings from the Metalcraft brand. The Metalcraft facility, located in Louisville, Ga., will keep its operations under the management of founder Dayton Ratzlaff, who will continue to play an important role in the growth of the Metalcraft business.

K-Tec, Ashland and Metalcraft are all manufacturers of earthmoving scrapers and accessory products serving the construction, mining and agriculture markets. Joined together, all three brands are part of the K.A. Group.

This addition to the K.A. Group will capitalize on organizational efficiencies including: shorter ordering lead times, as production capabilities are increased; implementing industry-best practices across organizations for enhanced product design, purchasing synergies, servicing support and company culture.

K.A. Group President and CEO Mike Palitsky said, "Metalcraft is an impressive organization that has developed a niche in the earthmoving industry. The company has a culture of hardworking and humble experts that mesh seamlessly with our family values in our existing Canadian and Wisconsin locations. They have a proven track record of bringing innovative solutions to the market that perfectly complement the breadth of our existing earthmoving product line offerings to the construction, mining and agriculture markets. I want to reassure Metalcraft dealers and customers that we are committed to retaining the Metalcraft brand and existing product offerings."

"We are excited to join the K.A. Group family in this next chapter of Metalcraft's story," Ratzlaff said. "We see great advantages for our operations to build machines faster to match the high-demand for our products. I look forward to accessing this new corporate horsepower to allow our Georgia team to focus on our manufacturing strengths and continue building our innovative equipment at exceptional value for earthmovers around the world."

K.A. Group ownership, Kinperium Industries Inc. will continue to invest in the new Georgia business location and will actively support management's focus on new product development and increased operational efficiencies across the organization.

For more information, visit kagroup.com, ktec.com, ashlandind.com and metalcraftscrapers.com.

(L-R) are Randy Rust, Ashland director of corporate development; Mike Palitsky KA Group president and CEO; and Dayton Ratzlaff, Metalcraft founder.