TWG continues its focus on the importance of synergy within the current group and with additional strategic acquisitions to provide growth and to create exceptional customer value. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa Winch Group (“TWG”) is composed of five distinct companies that manufacture industry-specific winches, hoists, gear drives, and supporting electronic solutions for energy, infrastructure, and recovery markets worldwide. Collectively, these companies serve global leaders in the mobile crane, oil field, towing, government, heavy hauling, utility, construction, refuse, and aerial work platform markets.

What began as a single enterprise in 1929, Tulsa Winch, Inc. (“TWI”) was founded by a truck salvage operator who utilized the gear sets from the rear axles of Model T trucks for his initial winch designs. TWI became a division of Vickers Hydraulics from 1946 until 1986, when Ron Hoffman and a few key managers teamed with an outside investor to buy the company. This new management team positioned TWI for aggressive growth and market share gains through continuous product improvement and exceptional customer service.

In 1995, the owners believed that Tulsa Winch was ready for additional growth through product sales to major OEM customers, but this new strategy would require increased investment in equipment, facilities, and workforce. TWI showed strong profitability, enjoyed a great growth record, and was fully capable of continuing these trends as a privately held company.

“We began to ask ourselves if we were ready to leverage the company to meet tomorrow’s growth, limit our future expansion, or explore the opportunity to sell the company to a larger entity that could support the company’s growth initiatives,” says Ron Hoffman, former president of TWI. “We challenged our thinking as to when do we ever make a decision to sell the company.” All the owners held different expectations for their retirement plans, career aspirations, and personal investment goals. The majority of each owner’s personal wealth was tied up in TWI, and they were all intrigued with the possibility of cashing out to allow themselves to diversify their personal investment portfolios and estate plans. “We wondered how we could best meet all of these personal ownership goals and yet maintain the future of the company in the best interests of the customers and employees,” explains Hoffman.

The owners made a conscious effort to explore the possibilities of selling TWI to a larger entity that could support their planned growth opportunities. They developed a list of potentially compatible suitors and approached each with a profile of TWI. They didn’t approach any competitors or financial buyers, but instead sought buyers that had a history of long-term ownership of their acquisitions. “My desire was to remain with the company but I wasn’t willing to go back into a rigidly structured corporate environment,” says Hoffman.

Dover quickly rose to the top of the list, not because of the monetary offer but because both Dover and TWI’s owners wanted the company to remain intact with its employees and responsive culture. Essentially, TWI wanted to be a part of encouraging and facilitating its vision of internal growth, product development, and complementary acquisitions. Hoffman recalled saying, “This Dover group appears to be an ideal match. It almost seems too good to be true.”

TWI joined Dover Resources in December 1996. “We have been thrilled to find that Dover has totally supported our plans to grow with limited involvement,” says Hoffman.

TWI quickly outgrew its leased facility. Demonstrating its long-term commitment to the company, Dover approved construction of a new 82,000-squarefoot plant located in Jenks, Oklahoma. This state-of-the-art facility, coupled with a world-class factory approach, strengthened TWI’s ability to serve the dynamic demands of its customer base.

“It was our belief that the winch industry had a number of entrepreneurowners much like Tulsa Winch who might also be evaluating opportunities to sell their companies,” says Hoffman. “Dover provided us with the capital to pursue complementary acquisitions that have diversified our products and markets.”

Over the years, Dover made a series of strategic acquisitions that complemented TWI and would later elevate what came to be called the Tulsa Winch Group (TWG) to become a global player in the manufacture of winches, hoists, gear drives, gearing products, and electronic load information systems.

DP MANUFACTURING
DP Manufacturing (DP) was acquired in November 1999 and added breadth to the Tulsa Winch planetary product offerings. The former owner of DP had been exploring his retirement options but wanted his business to end up in the hands of a company that would continue to nurture the growth of the business in the best interests of DP’s customers and employees. He was aware of the support that Dover had demonstrated to TWI and believed that TWG’s acquisition of DP offered the best ongoing stability for his company. After a brief transition period, he was able to retire satisfied that his company was in capable hands.

DP Manufacturing brought to TWG the government winch market, broadened distribution, and expanded product offerings for the towing and utility markets. TWG and DP are an ideal fit in that they share a similar culture, a dedication to customer service, and a focused commitment to product development.

GREER COMPANY
The Greer Company, located in Santa Ana, California, was acquired by TWG in April 2000. Greer is a leader in the design and manufacture of load and system monitoring products sold under the Microguard® trademark to customers in the mobile crane industry. Greer’s indicators warn crane operators of an impending overload and can be configured by OEM customers to disable functions that might contribute to an unsafe condition. Greer’s customer base is essentially made up of the same OEM mobile crane customers served by Tulsa Winch.

This strategic acquisition broadened the product offerings of TWG and brought electronic expertise to the group. It also set the stage for TWG to integrate electronic sensing technology with its gearing products that lift, pull, and rotate. Greer was formerly owned by Morgan Crucible Company plc of England. Through Dover, TWG offered Morgan Crucible the opportunity to divest a division that no longer fit their core competency to a corporate entity with the financial stability to properly grow the business. The synergy between TWG and Greer would facilitate the growth of both companies.

PULLMASTER
TWG next acquired Pullmaster Winch Corporation, a Canadian company and leading manufacturer of planetary hydraulic winches. This complementary add-on, acquired in September 2000, brought leadership in several market niches not served by TWI, such as commercial fishing, logging, and marine dredging. The previous owner of this privately held business faced many of the same issues most owners face in preparing for retirement. The courting process between Dover and Pullmaster took place over several years, but Dover was finally selected as the best choice to continue to build upon the strong legacy of Pullmaster.

LANTEC WINCH & GEAR
In March 2008, TWG acquired LANTEC Winch & Gear, its second Canadian-based company. As a leading manufacturer of hydraulic winches, hoists, and gear reducers for the oil and gas, infrastructure, and marine markets, LANTEC further broadened TWG’s collective range of winch products and expanded its market presence. “LANTEC offers an ideal fit with Tulsa Winch Group not only in terms of its product lines and capabilities, but in its commitment to total excellence,” says Steve Oden, president of TWG. “We look forward to integrating our products and technologies with LANTEC’s longstanding reputation for high quality and performance to provide our customers with the most comprehensive array of products and solutions available in the marketplace.”

With the synergies offered by five diverse and strong brands, TWG is poised for broader international expansion across its key markets. The company operates three manufacturing facilities in North America, the newest of which is part of TWG’s expanded headquarters in Tulsa. The expansion consolidates the production of TWI, DP Winch, and Greer products. With a product offering that touches virtually every major industry in the world, TWG is positioned for remarkable growth and prosperity in the decades to follow. As the company’s tagline boldly announces, TWG truly provides “Power to Move the World.”