The Jacob Holtz Co, the largest bed frame caster manufacturer in the world, was acquired by lock manufacturer Hudson Lock. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Jacob Holtz started in 1949 in Philadelphia as a manufacturer of metal stampings and casters. Since the 1960s, it has been recognized as the largest bed frame caster manufacturer in the world, and has since expanded its product offerings to include a broad portfolio of patent-protected casters and related products for specialty applications within the furniture, industrial, retail display, food processing equipment and restaurant equipment end-markets.
In 1999, Jacob Holtz was bought by Osage Industries, part of Osage Partners, a family of three venture-capital firms founded by Robert Adelson founded in 1990. Osage installed Bill Frame as CEO, a Drexel University graduate who had spent more than two decades in the area operations of Ryerson Inc., a Chicago-based metal processor and distributor.
Frame developed a proprietary caster made of composite plastic material for bed frames and retail displays. Frame said in a 2012 interview that Jacob Holtz was a good company when Osage bought it, but when Chinese manufacturers decided to start making casters, they just about put it out of business.
To remedy that, Frame set out to design a caster that was stronger and cost less to make than Chinese casters and could be made anywhere.
He succeeded, getting patents on it in 2006 and 2007, enabling Jacob Holtz to recapture much of the business it lost to the Chinese.
The company built on that success late last decade with the X caster, a patented composite plastic double-wheel caster that costs less and is much stronger than many single-wheel casters.
In 2007, Jacob Holtz moved its entire operations from Philadelphia to Lester, Delaware County. The company further expanded its business with the purchase of PlastiGlide in 2014, its third acquisition.
Hudson Lock and ESP Lock have been designing and manufacturing highly engineered custom and specialty medium-security locks and locking systems since 1963, from their headquarters facility in Hudson, Mass. It has been owned by Waveland Investments and senior management since 2004.
Fairmount Partners served as financial advisor to Jacob Holtz and its shareholders. Cozen O’Connor and RSM served as legal and accounting advisors.
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