Japanese Firm’s U.S. Unit Buys Truck Parts Maker

Toyoshima Spring Steel Co. Ltd. of Osaka, Japan, has acquired Service Spring Co. of Indianapolis through its U.S. corporate office in Stanton. The exact amount of the acquisition was not disclosed, but a spokesman said the cash transaction is worth “several million dollars.”

The spokesman said Service Spring, formerly part of the Truck Products division of Colt Industries, will serve as the Japanese company’s U.S. manufacturing facility for its truck and trailer leaf springs. Toyoshima had previously exported its springs from the Osaka facility to its customers in the West.

He said that the facility will remain in Indianapolis and that all 135 employees there will be retained, with a possibility that the size of the work force will be increased in the near future. He also said the Stanton office will remain in operation.

The spokesman added that the U.S. facility will concentrate solely on the manufacture of the leaf springs for the time being and may introduce improvements in the product through the use of new equipment shipped from the East. The Japanese company’s other products, which include automotive coil springs, forklift arms and earthmoving attachment parts, will continue to be manufactured in Japan.