Barrette Outdoor Living Inc. acquired the DuraLife composite decking and railing brands and assets from Integrity Composites LLC.
The strategic deal lets BOL enter the decking space and expand its product offering beyond vinyl, aluminum and wood fences, railing and decorative accessories.
BOL will continue to operate the Biddeford, Maine, manufacturing facility for DuraLife products, which are made of polypropylene and hardwood. No changes are planned for the brand as the two companies pursue an integration expected to be nearly seamless for their customers and distribution partners.
Established in 1978, BOL entered the fencing market in North America through Home Depot, which still sells its Veranda line. A partnership with Lowe’s came in 1995. St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec-based BOL, which has a U.S. sales and marketing office in Cleveland, also distributes through specialty retailers and lumberyards.
Integrity, a Maine-based ownership and management company, acquired DuraLife from GAF Building Materials in 2012. Considered ecofriendly, the decking is produced in a 100,000-square-foot production plant in Biddeford from virgin and post-consumer PP (20 percent), reclaimed PP and wood from the manufacturing process (25 percent) and hardwood flour (55 percent). The DuraLife product line also includes composite planks for docks and boardwalk.
“We are extremely excited about this acquisition and the opportunities it affords as it will both expand and differentiate our portfolio of products,” BOL President Jean desAutels said in a July 2 news release. “Our companies are a good fit culturally, which better positions our business to continue its growth as a market leader in the outdoor living products category.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. BOL is a privately held, third-generation family company that started as Barrette Co. in 1924 in the paper mill, then lumber and sawmill industries. Fifty-four years later, BOL was created. The business employs more than 2,000 in the U.S. and Canada, including a manufacturing and distribution center for vinyl and aluminum fence and rail that opened in Galloway, N.J., in 2016.
Jim Poulin, national sales manager at Integrity Composites, said the Barrette and DuraLife product lines are very complementary.
“This will allow for both companies to leverage people, equipment and ideas to expand the level and quality of products and services available to our customers,” Poulin added.
One of DuraLife’s recent innovations is a patent-pending hidden fastening system for its decking that is installed with a step-clip fastening system. The system locks decking into place when the contractor steps on the edge. The process can cut installation time by as much as 50 percent.
BOL began growing by acquisition in 2001 starting with the integrations of U.S. Fence, a sales, marketing and customer service company in Cleveland; and Erwin Industries, a vinyl fence and wood railing manufacturer in Bulls Gap, Tenn.
In 2002, BOL acquired Plastic Research Co. and its manufacturing plant for molded lattice, trellises and arbors in Flint, Mich. BOL doubled production capacity in Bulls Gap in 2003.
Five years later, BOL introduced a line of decorative vinyl and aluminum fencing products for privacy and pool areas called ActiveYards and made two acquisitions: the vinyl shed division of Royal Industries and Crane Fencing, which is vinyl.
Later acquisitions focused on aluminum, iron and metal products.
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