Stephenson Equipment, Inc. acquires Walsh Equipment

Stephenson Equipment, Inc. (SEI) who is celebrating 60 years in business have announced that SEI will acquire Walsh Equipment, an 85 year-old company headquartered in Butler, PA with a branch location in Ebensburg, PA. The partnership extends Stephenson’s operations to six locations in Pennsylvania along with their two locations in New York, the combined locations will employ approximately 185 employees. Walsh will operate as a division of SEI continuing to serve customers out of the two Walsh locations.

Dennis Heller, president and CEO of Stephenson Equipment commented, “Charlie Walsh was named SEI Vice President of Walsh Operations and will continue to lead his team of managers and employees.This is a perfect venture for Stephenson, both Stephenson (SEI) and Walsh share many business philosophies and principles, as well we both represent brands like JCB, LeeBoy, Rosco and Tiger. This merger puts Stephenson among the largest distributors in the United States for these manufacturers.”

All 40 Walsh employees will continue to work for the combined SEI company. Charlie Walsh, the third generation of his family to work in the business, expressed appreciation to Mike Walsh who will retire from the business after 40 plus years of ownership and leadership. Charlie who is excited about the partnership with SEI said, “Mike (Walsh), myself and many of our employees have worked with SEI over the years, we know that SEI is truly one of the best dealerships in the industry, they share the same core commitments as we do, providing the best products, parts and service to our customers.”

Bob Criste, COO for Stephenson added, “Earlier this year we were approached by the Walsh’s with this opportunity to acquire the company. SEI and Walsh combined is clearly a powerhouse, together we have an outstanding 145 years of Pennsylvania based dealership experience between us.”

“In the construction, road building and road maintenance industry, we as suppliers need to be able to grow and adapt to changes in the way this industry operates, we believe this merger allows us to better serve our customers needs,” said SEI president & CEO Dennis Heller.

Charlie Walsh, now vice president of Walsh Operations for Stephenson offered one example of ‘better serving customers.’ “It is our plan to now offer rentals to the customers we serve, merging with SEI who already expertly provides rentals to customers is very knowledgeable on how to set up and operate rentals in our very niche’ product market, this will help us quickly adapt and offer this valuable service to customers in our region.”

Heller summed the big day up nicely by saying “With the merging of SEI and Walsh we will continue to build on the legacy and foundation that has brought us to this point. We will remain true to our values, our commitment to our customers and our employees.”