Spartan Motors, Inc., specialty vehicle manufacturer and assembler for the commercial and retail vehicle industries (including last-mile delivery, specialty vehicles, commercial vehicle assembly, and vocation-specific upfit segments), as well as for the emergency response and recreational vehicle markets, purchased Royal Truck Body, a California-based designer, manufacturer, and installer of service truck bodies and accessories.

Royal joins Spartan’s Specialty Chassis and Vehicles (SCV) business unit and, in recognition of the strength of the brand, will continue to go to market under the Royal Truck Body name.

The acquisition is the latest action driven by Spartan’s strategic plan and will result in the achievement of three of the plan’s key goals: EBITDA margin growth, increased revenue, and geographic expansion by way of delivering on the promise of a coast-to-coast manufacturing and distribution footprint, according to Spartan.

“This is an exciting day for Spartan,” said Daryl Adams, president and CEO of Spartan Motors. “Our acquisition of Royal Truck Body marks the continued execution of our strategic plan and delivers on the promise of nationwide expansion to the benefit of our customers, suppliers, team members, and our shareholders.”

The purchase of Royal expands Spartan Motors’ manufacturing operations into Southern California, Northern California, and additional West Coast markets, advancing its U.S. footprint strategy with six additional operating facilities located in California, Arizona, and Texas.

Spartan will utilize Royal’s existing production facility in Carson, Calif., and its five other locations throughout the Sun Belt to build and distribute commercial trucks more efficiently and cost effectively to West Coast customers across its business units.

Spartan expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings on an annualized basis in 2020.

“As we welcome Royal to the Spartan family and work to grow our combined business, we see many opportunities to further our value proposition of additional expansion into the trades, fleet, and last mile delivery categories nationwide. Our long-term strategy is to broaden our geographic footprint with increased capabilities for each regional location to offer a comprehensive suite of products and services,” Adams said.

Royal manufactures and assembles truck body options for various trades, service utility truck bodies, stake body trucks, service vans, contractor trucks, and dump trucks that complement Spartan’s Work-Driven Design vocational solutions across GVWR Class 1 through Class 7.

Royal’s product set builds on the momentum of Spartan’s recent General Truck Body acquisition, allowing Spartan’s expanded West Coast operations to support tradespeople and fleets of all sizes.

“I’m thrilled that Spartan represents such a close fit with our company values and culture, including hard work, accountability and customer satisfaction,” said Dudley DeZonia, former President, Royal Truck Body.  “Spartan has a compelling vision and success story, and I am confident the future will be incredibly bright for Spartan and the Royal Truck Body brand.”