Spartan Motors, Inc. (SPAR) Division and Gimaex Form Joint Venture to Improve Global Expansion and Speed-to-Market

Spartan ERV (Emergency Response Vehicles), a business unit of Spartan Motors, and Gimaex announced today the creation of a formal joint venture which will be organized under a new Limited Liability Company incorporated in the state of Delaware. The joint venture was formed to capitalize on the complementary skills, resources, and capabilities of Gimaex and Spartan ERV on approved projects to develop, manufacture, and distribute innovative products to Fire Service markets in North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.

The joint venture, which was formed to be an even 50/50 split for both companies, will make use of the complementary brands, capabilities, footprints, and technologies shared by both Gimaex and Spartan ERV. The extent of the joint venture will encompass technology sharing, joint product development, commercial agreements, and additional purchasing clout, as well as leveraging development and build costs. Because Spartan and Gimaex share complementary geographic, engineering, and production footprints, the new joint venture will allow both companies to accrue a true global presence.

The partnership between Spartan and Gimaex initially began in April 2012 when the two companies formed an alliance. The original scope of the alliance included two products – TelStar and a crossover pumper. TelStar, the largest (138 ft.) telescopic and articulated aerial platform available in North America, is uniquely designed and engineered with All Call capabilities. The crossover pumper, a Concept Chassis, has been code named the RXO and can fulfill both structural and Wildland fire needs. The RXO was designed to elevate the performance and safety levels afforded the firefighter by configuring the crossover pumper on a Renault Truck Chassis with a Gimaex body, CAFS, and a multitude of other market-leading innovations.

Dennis Schneider, the Spartan ERV/Gimaex JV Managing Partner and President of Spartan ER, noted, “We are very pleased with our combined ability to execute in the marketplace. Just last week, we celebrated a TelStar sales milestone in South America. This is proof positive of our combined ability to cultivate global business and develop market-leading technologies which deliver incremental revenue to both companies.”

In April 2012, Spartan revealed an emergency response strategy centered around global expansion. Spartan Motors’ corporate growth plan consists of three elements: organic growth, growth through acquisitions, and growth through alliances/joint ventures. As such, the Spartan / Gimaex joint venture is an logical implementation of corporate strategy.

“The diversity of needs facing the global fire service continues to increase. The combined technical competencies resident in the joint venture will enable us to collectively provide a much broader set of purposeful and cost-effective solutions,” stated Louis Devaleix, Chief Executive Officer, Gimaex Americas. “Our combined market knowledge and geographic footprints are remarkably complementary and this together with the speed to market we demonstrated in launching the TelStar leaves us very optimistic from a business development perspective.”

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