Industry Pioneers Join Forces

Arxx Corporation has purchased American PolySteel, LLC; the move joins two of the oldest insulating concrete form manufacturers in North America.
“After celebrating 30 years of leadership in the ICF industry, we are pleased to be joining the Arxx organization,” says Patrick Murphy, President of American PolySteel.
The move is the latest in a series of acquisitions by Arxx, which was purchased by a group of investors last fall. (See "The New Face of Arxx" on p.16 in the Apr. '08 issue of this magazine.)
"Our overall strategy moving forward is to position ourselves globally, with a major presence in both residential and commercial markets," says Robert Coveney, vice president of sales and marketing at Arxx. "Clearly, the best way to fast track this goal is to add a few of the players with those capabilities to our organization."
"American PolySteel is a solid company, with a great reputation and solid positioning in the market place," Coveney continues. "Because of the work they've done, they were a great match."
“PolySteel has a very strong brand and distribution network, and is an extremely well respected company,” adds Frank O’Dea, president and CEO of Arxx. "It also shares the same goal of providing sustainable building solutions globally."
American Polysteel is the only company that offers a "Cradle-to-Cradle" certified ICF. They also offer the most diverse line of ICFs, with both a flat wall and waffle-grid form, and a choice between plastic and steel ties. The plastic tie form is a knockdown, field-assembled variety, which gives installers a full range of options.
These products will be another "element" Arxx Corporation can offer as part of their "green envelope solutions" strategy.
"PolySteel's ICF products and solutions complement what is currently being offered by Arxx," says O'Dea, "so this outcome was a very logical step for the two companies."

Coveney also notes that PolySteel has "very good positioning in the UK" and internationally, which will strengthen the Arxx Corp.'s position overseas.
Andy Horgan, who oversaw PolySteel's international markets, is moving into a similar responsibility with Arxx. Virtually all the other PolySteel execs, including president Pat Murphy, are in short-term "transitional" positions through the end of the year.
At the distributor level, however, executives claim very little will change. "A PolySteel distributor will be a PolySteel distributor and Arxx is Arxx," says Coveney. "Our long term interest is keeping the PolySteel brand intact."
Individual distributors, however, are more cautious. Murphy admits that some of them have expressed "some anxiety about the transition."
"We have tried to make clear that this represents and extraordinary opportunity to do things that otherwise would not have been possible," says Murphy. "In a short period of time, an overwhelming majority of our distributors have said they're happy with that. There's a real opportunity to expand their product line, and speak from a stronger position of industry leadership."
With the new ownership, PolySteel distributors will get better marketing and technical support—departments which have been consolidated to Arxx headquarters—and a network of regional managers.

"What we're doing is bringing some support," confirms Coveney. "Anytime there's change, there will be some insecurity, but once distributors have three months of living it, and know that it really is 'business as usual,' they'll see it’s a great deal."
Arxx regional managers are optimistic as well, acknowledging there may be some short-term issues to work out. "We're excited about the growth of the company and the ability to provide better, stronger service to distributors across the board," says Randy Daniels, regional manager for southern California and surrounding areas. "In the long run, it will be good."
Arxx Corp. has not yet completed their growth-by-acquisition strategy. In February, the original investor DFJ Element was joined by venture capitalist firms Nth Power and Emerald Technology. Funded to the tune of C$16 million, they received even more financing when a fourth investor, Saint Gobain Corp. joined the group. Saint Gobain is a multinational construction products company, best known in North America as the parent company of CertainTeed.
"We are better positioned financially than anyone else in the ICF industry," says Coveney. "We're open to more acquisitions, if the right opportunities present themselves, but they have to match our strategy and market position."

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