ARVADA, Colo. -- After a three-year courtship, Mark VII Equipment LLC, Arvada, Colo., and WashTec AG of Augsburg, Germany, have decided to tie the knot. That's the analogy Mark VII officials are using to describe WashTec's decision to purchase the U.S. company.
They partnered up with us [as a distributor in the United States in 2003] because we were already a successful player in this market and our product lines were complementary in that they did friction [washes] and we did touch free, Mark VII spokesperson Steve Robinson told CSP Daily News. That [image-nocss] three-year period ended up being kind of a dating period and now we're ready to get married and really accelerate the penetration of the WashTec products into North America. [The sales also will] provide [Mark VII] the opportunity to sell our touch-free equipment in additional markets outside North America.
Since 2003, Mark VII has been the exclusive U.S. master distributor of WashTec's SoftWash line of friction car wash systems. Mark VII will continue operations from its current headquarters in Arvada, Colo., and will begin manufacturing SoftWash friction rollover systems in its factory in 2006 to complement its AquaJet GT touchfree rollover systems, AquaSpray self-serve systems, and AquaJet tunnel systems.
We're thrilled that the global market leader in car wash business has chosen to purchase Mark VII, said Dave Smith, president and CEO of Mark VII, in a press release. Our companies have had a strategic alliance for three years now, and we have tremendous respect for their products and management team. This is an outstanding opportunity to marry our resources with those of the WashTec group in Europe, and we are confident that the combined know-how will allow us to grow our market position.
Thorsten Kr ager, CEO of WashTec AG, agreed. The acquisition of Mark VII will add a new dimension to the growth potential of WashTec, he said. Entering the U.S. market in a meaningful way has been an important long-term strategic objective for us. Due to its important market position, complementary product range and strong recent track record, Mark VII is our ideal partner in the United States.
About 75% of Mark VII's 4,500 car washes are at retail petroleum sites, according to Robinson, who added that retailer can expect business to continue as usual for the most part. The only thing that's going to change strategically is we're going to put a lot more emphasis on growing the friction side of the business, he said. We'll start manufacturing the friction machines here in 2006, whereas up until now we've been importing machines that are basically 80% [in Germany] and then completed here. Instead, we'll be able to build to order here in Colorado, just like we do our own touchfree equipment. That will increase the efficiency around marketing and supporting the friction line.
One other change: The old Wesumat brand name will soon be dropped. Wesumat as a brand is going to go away, said Robinson. We will market it as the Mark VII SoftWash, CombiWash and ChoiceWash.
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