Nix Industrial acquires majority ownership of New Albany fabrication company
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Poseyville-based Nix Industrial announced Tuesday that it has acquired majority ownership of New Albany-based Huncilman Sheet Metal Fabrication. Several guests attended a news conference at Huncilman’s facility in New Albany, including Congresswoman Erin Houchin, State Senator Mark Messmer, State Rep. Ed Clere, and Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales.
“We are committed to maintaining the exceptional standards and values that the Huncilmans have upheld for generations while leveraging our expanded capabilities to better serve our combined team members, customers and communities,” Matthew Nix, CEO of Nix Industrial, said in a news release.
The combination of the two fifth-generation, family-owned businesses, which was completed on Aug. 12, creates a workforce of more than 200 employees. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As Nix Industrial’s largest acquisition, the deal positions the company as one of the biggest metal fabricators in Indiana and one of the 40 largest in America.
“This integration is historic for the state of Indiana,” Parker Huncilman, general manager and managing partner of Huncilman, told Inside INdiana Business. “It’s exciting to know that we’re sitting in a high percentage of size in our industry now, not only in the state but nationally. If we do this accurately, we can start to impact a lot of lives with employment, not only in New Albany but Evansville and so on.”
About Nix and Huncilman
Established in 1902 as a blacksmith shop, Nix Industrial is a custom manufacturer and industrial repair company, serving customers nationwide with a primary focus in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky. Huncilman, founded as a boiler repair company in 1913, provides laser cutting, precision forming, welding, robotic welding and E-coat painting.
“We do work for others. We’re a second-tier supplier,” said Gordon Huncilman, Parker’s father. “We make things that will go into a lot of the big [original equipment manufacturers], especially on the E-coat paint line. We’re painting a lot of product that ends up at a lot of the automotive companies.”
Gordon and his brother, Jeffery Huncilman, are the outgoing owners of Huncilman who plan to transition away from the business over the next few months.
“I’ll miss coming in every day and seeing everybody because my office is at the back of the facility,” Gordon Huncilman said. “I walk through the shop every time I come in or if I leave for lunch or leave for the day or anything like that. It’s not uncommon for me to get stopped or stop and talk to somebody for 10 or 15 minutes.”
Ever since Parker Huncilman began working full-time for the company in 2011, he’s been focused on growing the business to a point that would allow his father and uncle to retire.
“Not only was I able to take up equity in the company, I’m able to retain ownership,” said Parker Huncilman. “I’m able to progress the company at a better pace than I was capable of on my own. So [the acquisition] provided me a way to limit my risk, excel the company, stick with my employees, invest in them and become a part of the next brand over the coming years.”
On Aug. 12, the Huncilman workers were notified about the Nix alliance. Matthew Nix and his team came to New Albany to explain the changes.
“Matthew said, ‘Nobody is going to take a step backward. There will be some who will get to take a little step forward as a result of this, but nobody will be disenfranchised or take a step backward concerning their pay and their benefits,’” Gordon Huncilman said. “And there’s not really going to be a new sheriff in town. The new sheriff in town is Parker, who they all know.”
‘The businesses complement one another very well’
When Parker, Gordon and Jeffery Huncilman put their business on the market, they searched for a partner that would make a good match.
“We started looking around to see if there was something that made sense. And Nix’s area of business expertise is pretty aligned with us. They’re a metal fabricator, but they work a lot in structurals and things like that we don’t do a lot in. They do a little bit in sheet and plate, which is what we do a lot of. So the businesses complement one another very well,” said Gordon Huncilman.
For Matthew Nix, Huncilman’s location and service offerings plus Parker’s commitment to lead the New Albany entity made the coalition ideal.
“I get over a hundred opportunities on paper, and I visit probably 20 in person before we make one purchase. It just fit perfectly for us,” Matthew Nix said. “And the fact that their next generation was involved and young enough that we had a lot of career runway together, and he wanted to stay involved and maintain some ownership was intriguing.”
Nix Industrial’s insistence on transparency and collaboration appealed to the Huncilmans.
“[Nix Industrial] gave us free access to the people of the companies that they’ve acquired,” said Gordon Huncilman. “And everybody who we talked to said they’ve done absolutely everything that they said they were going to do. So extremely good reputation.”
Keeping the Huncilman name was also important to the family, something Matthew Nix recognized on closing day.
“Watching Gordon Huncilman, the outgoing owner and fourth generation, stand up in front of his team and speak to them, that his family’s been in business for 111 years, and he got emotional talking to them, which is understandable,” Matthew Nix said.
With Nix Industrial’s help, the Huncilmans expect the New Albany business to achieve greater outcomes.
“Businesses only move two ways. They move forward, or they move backward. And you don’t necessarily want to play defense and try not to move backward. You’ve got to have a plan for how you’re going to move forward,” said Gordon Huncilman. “[Nix Industrial] can provide the acumen and capital and things like that to be able to grow the business.”
The next generations
The most significant factor in the decision to combine Nix Industrial and Huncilman may have been shared values, specifically an emphasis on culture.
“The most critical component of the whole thing is corporate culture and continuity of the team. The team is everything. We can all go buy machines and buy buildings. But it’s about keeping the team intact,” Matthew Nix said.
The next steps include transitioning the leadership of Huncilman and then letting the dust settle for a bit.
“Make sure that our employees at Huncilman are comfortable, get through the whirlwind of the changes and integrations of general everyday business and get back to a level playing field,” said Parker Huncilman.
Once things are stabilized, Matthew Nix and Parker Huncilman said they will tackle the best ways to forge ahead.
“How do we grow their business individually—leveraging our sales and marketing capabilities of the overall company—and then how do we recognize the synergy opportunities between the two?” Matthew Nix said.
The Nix Industrial CEO is also thinking about how the next generations will work together.
“We’re a fifth-generation family business as well. We’re hoping to transition it to the sixth. So we understand what that must be like and the tremendous responsibility that it is for us to honor that legacy and take care of [Huncilman’s] people,” said Matthew Nix.
Gordon Huncilman shared a similar vision as he babysat his grandson during our interview.
“Parker has two sons. I don’t know whether they would ever go to work there and end up with any kind of ownership, but I could be holding the sixth generation on my lap,” added Gordon Huncilman.