Steel Mills

Olympic Steel Acquires Another Manufacturer

August 6, 2019

Olympic Steel further advanced its strategy to add manufactured metal products to its portfolio with the acquisition this week of EZ-Dumper.

EZdumper EZ-Dumper, a nationally recognized brand, produces steel and stainless steel dump inserts for pickup truck and service truck beds. Built from heavy-gauge materials and backed by a structural steel frame, the dump inserts can hold and unload up to 6,000 pounds of material for construction, landscaping and home renovation applications. Made to bolt directly into most full-size pickup trucks, or custom-made for service and utility body vehicles, each insert lowers and dumps utilizing a 12-volt hydraulic pump that plugs directly into the truck battery. EZ-Dumper inserts are sold through a network of more than 100 dealers across the United States and Canada.

“Continuing to expand in the metal-intensive branded products space is a key element of our growth and diversification strategy, and the EZ-Dumper asset acquisition represents our second such acquisition,” said Richard T. Marabito, Olympic Steel Chief Executive Officer. Olympic acquired McCullough Industries in January.

“We believe combining our strengths in raw material supply and metal processing with EZ-Dumper’s product quality and brand recognition will provide a consistent and growing EBITDA stream for our organization. We are committed to actively evaluating additional opportunities to add to our metal-intensive branded products portfolio.”

Marabito hinted at the upcoming acquisition during the second-quarter earnings call after noting the successful strategy of acquiring and supplying steel to McCullough for processing.

“These types of manufacturing businesses elongate our margins, improve our returns on Carbon Flat Products and are countercyclical to the pricing dynamics of our steel distribution business,” said Marabito.

“McCullough was a very profitable company when we acquired them. And so we’re seeing returns, returns on investment, profit returns to sales, however you want to look at it. We’re looking at profitability that is multiples of what the base service center yields. So, it’s been very successful for us. That’s why we’re excited to do more of it.”

EZ-Dumper will be included in Olympic Steel’s Carbon Flat Products segment, and its manufacturing assets and employees will be integrated into Olympic Steel’s facility in Chambersburg, Pa., which is near EZ-Dumper’s current manufacturing facility in Waynesboro, Pa.