Benada Aluminum Products, LLC. (“Benada”) announced today that it has acquired from bankruptcy the assets of Florida Extruders International Inc. (“FEI”) and simultaneously, the assets of Benada Aluminum of Florida Inc. (“BAF”). Both FEI and BAF are well-established aluminum product firms in Florida. Benada is a newly formed entity owned indirectly by FTL Capital LLC., a St. Louis, Missouri based private equity firm and BAF of Miami, Florida. BAF is owned by Monte Friedkin, who has been in the aluminum products business for more than 50 years.
“We are very excited for the potential to increase market share and reduce costs by combining the assets and operations of FEI and BAF,” said Monte Friedkin, who became President and CEO of Benada. “Our extensive industry experience coupled with FTL Capital’s resources and its financial and strategic leadership, provides Benada with a solid foundation for profitable growth in the future,” added Friedkin.
“By acquiring the assets of FEI at an attractive price and combining these with the assets and operations of BAF under Monte’s superb leadership, Benada becomes an exciting platform on which to build a highly successful aluminum products company,” said Paul D. Melnuk, Chairman of Benada and a principal of FTL Capital. “FEI has established an excellent reputation for product quality and BAF has distinguished itself as a customer focused supplier. These attributes are the cornerstone of our strategy to build this business while leveraging the many opportunities for productivity improvement through increased asset utilization, improved efficiency and other cost saving initiatives,” added Melnuk.