By Mark Edward Nero
British Columbia-based Kobelt Manufacturing has acquired Accu-Steer Inc., a Bellingham, Washington-based company that builds a range of hydraulic steering actuators for commercial vessels and pleasure craft.
Kobelt is expected to retain the Accu-Steer brand, but Accu-Steer will be physically relocated into the current Kobelt manufacturing facility in Surrey, Canada, Kobelt said Aug. 6.
The Accu-Steer dealer network will remain intact but direct factory support will be provided from the Kobelt facility in Surrey.
Accu-Steer branded products will be distributed and serviced through Kobelt’s global network, which operates in 60 countries.
Kobelt CEO David Bockhold, says the acquisition of Accu-Steer and its product line will fill “some gaps in our current Kobelt product line” and that by packaging the hydraulic power steering unit into a complete steering package, Kobelt improves its ability to provide complete steering solutions for the commercial and pleasure markets.
“In addition to steering packages, we can also integrate our propulsion controls and our Keypower (Equipment) thrusters and stabilization systems to deliver solutions for all aspects of vessel motion control,” he said. “With both Accu-Steer as well as our recent acquisition of (Canadian boating equipment manufacturer) Keypower, we are responding to customer demand for one company to take responsibility for the integration of multiple systems.”
Accu-Steer President Bill Pulse, who cofounded the company with Paul Barber in 1993, said the synergies between the two Kobelt and Accu-Steer product lines make the companies “a natural fit.”
“Kobelt’s goal is to provide comprehensive systems to their customers and the Accu-Steer product line enables them to achieve this goal and better service the customer. We are very excited about the future for these combined product lines,” he said.