Canam Manac breaks off sale to Great Dane

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. (July 12, 1999) — Canam Manac Group has broken off negotiations to sell its Manac division, Canada’s largest semi-trailer manufacturer, to Chicago-based Great Dane Limited Partnership (GDLP).

The parties were unable to agree on details mostly relating to employee matters, a company statement said.

“We did not feel comfortable with the probable outcome of the sale for some of our people,” Manac executive vice-president Charles Dutil told NewsFIRST. “We’re disappointed, but we feel that this course of action is in the best interest of our company and those who work for it.”

He would not be specific about how the deal would have been detrimental to workers at Manac, which employs 1100.

GDLP was to have paid $87.5 million for all Manac trailer assets, including assembly plants in St-Georges de Beauce, Que., and Orangeville, Ont., plus service centres in Quebec City, Boucherville, Que., and Mississauga, Ont.

Manac produced nearly 7500 trailers and had revenue of $229.6 million in 1998. Canam Manac Group decided to sell its trailer operation in order to focus on its core steel business, which posted record sales of $1 billion in 1998.

GDLP was formed in February 1997 after Chicago-based CC Industries acquired the assets of Great Dane Trailers and merged them with its Pines Trailer division. GDLP currently operates eight manufacturing plants with a distribution network of 60-plus outlets in North and South America.

With Manac in the fold, the combined production capacity would have exceeded 60,000 units per year.