News

RV industry giant Thor Industries has announced the acquisition of premium producer of polypropylene-based composite materials Elkhart Composites. The acquisition will be completed via Thor’s Airxcel Inc subsidiary.

Elkhart Composites is a well-known name in the RV industry and a strong developer and producer of proprietary sustainable foamed polypropylene-based composite materials marketed and sold under the Elkboard brand name. Lightweight, rigid, and durable, Elkboard is used in the RV industry for sidewalls, helping to alleviate the industry's dependence on traditional lauan-based sidewalls. Unlike traditional lauan-based sidewalls, Elkboard is a sustainable solution and is not susceptible to rot or delamination.

Bob Martin, president and CEO of Thor Industries, said: “We are excited about this acquisition for so many different reasons. First, Elkboard is a far more sustainable solution than traditional lauan-based sidewalls. For decades, the RV industry has sourced lauan wood from tropical hardwood forests which continue to be over-harvested. As the recent supply-chain constraints have demonstrated, sourcing such materials from the other side of the world can no longer be taken for granted and our ability to quality-control lauan product is severely limited. Elkboard, on the other hand, is sustainable, and is fabricated locally.  Strict quality oversight allows a great deal of consistency we cannot find in lauan-based product. Second, Elkboard is an innovative and superior product already utilized in many of our RV offerings. Its current use in sidewalls is only the beginning for this product. With additional R&D investment into the Elkboard product, we expect it can be utilized as a solution in several other RV applications. Third, the growth potential of Elkboard is exponential. Our companies have been purchasing 100 per cent of the Elkboard produced but that number has only supported a fraction of the RVs we produce. THOR and Airxcel have already committed to making capital investments into Elkboard to expand its production capacity to a multiple of its current production capacity. Fourth, this is the first opportunity for us to continue to build on our recent Airxcel acquisition and the strategy that drove that acquisition.”

Meanwhile, John Petrofsky, Elkhart Composites' president and CEO, added: “As the demand for the Elkboard product began to outpace my ability to produce it, I began looking for the right partner to assist in expanding the production and utilization of Elkboard. While I had numerous suitors, THOR and Airxcel were the most natural fit. THOR's embrace of sustainable technologies and products combined with its focus on innovation made it the right choice for the company.  THOR's leadership has believed in the potential of Elkboard product since our first introduction, and I look forward to growing Elkhart Composites, Inc.'s product offerings, production volume, and applications with Airxcel.”