Produce equipment maker acquires company
A&B Packing Equipment in Lawrence, west of Kalamazoo, said that it has acquired the product lines of Holland-based Lakewood Process Machinery.
Terms of the agreement, which went into effect on March 6, were not disclosed.
Rua Associates in Grand Rapids served as the M&A representative for Lakewood Process Machinery.
Growth
A&B Packing Equipment will now be a company of more than 100 employees, with offices in Lawrence, Hartford and a presence in Holland.
A&B Packing said the acquisition “represents a pooling of the expertise" of the two makers of fruit and vegetable equipment and will produce a “superior line of packing and processing equipment for the industry.”
Bob Williamson, A&B founder and CEO, said customers can expect “the same focus, the same high quality service and the same team effort” from the combined company.
Lakewood Process Machinery
Lakewood Process Machinery is a family run company that has specialized in equipment for the agricultural and food processing industries for more than 50 years.
A&B said that Lakewood has "been responsible for many innovations” in sizing, de-stemming, conveying and washing and drying equipment for the agricultural and food processing industry.
A&B Packing Equipment
A&B Packing Equipment is also a family owned business that has specialized, for the past 20 years, in fresh pack and process equipment for the small fruit and vegetable industry.
It has focused specifically on high-speed packing equipment for consumer packaging.
The company’s flagship line of equipment is the Evolution series of high-speed weigh-and-fill packing machines, which have the ability to pack clamshells, punnets, bags and boxes with one machine.