Not quite a month after Lippert Components acquired Trans/Air Manufacturing, the company announced it is adding Freedman Seating Company to its school transportation portfolio.

Lippert, a subsidiary of LCI Industries, announced Tuesday it acquired all the business assets of Freedman, an Illinois-based manufacturer of transportation seating solutions. The terms of the deal were not disclosed at this report.

Freedman has been a family-owned company since 1884, providing a variety of seating solutions to the bus, rail, marine, delivery truck, specialty and commercial vehicle markets. Following the acquisition, a press release states the seating operations will continue out of Chicago for the foreseeable future.

Dan Cohen, president of Freedman, told School Transportation News that over the years, many companies have expressed interest in acquiring Freedman Seating.

“We’ve always listened, but we’ve been very deliberate about saying no when it didn’t feel like the right fit,” he said. “It was never just about selling the business. It was about finding a partner who shares our business values, who respects the culture we’ve built and who sees the same potential in our people and products. After thoughtful conversations and a lot of due diligence, we’re excited we’ve found that partner in Lippert. This acquisition gives us the opportunity to build on our legacy, expand our reach and invest even more in our team.”

Cohen said Lippert shares many of the same principles that have guided Freedman for generations. These principles include a focus on quality, long-term growth and putting people first. Lippert is also a family-owned business dating to 1959.

“Under their umbrella, we’ll have greater resources to pursue new markets, improve customer experience and develop new products, all while continuing to invest in the incredible people that made this possible,” he continued.

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Cohen noted that for the most part, Freedman will do business as usual. There will be title changes due to the corporate structure, but the entire management team is staying on with Lippert.

“Customers should expect to receive the same great quality and service they have for over 130 years with new benefits coming from our being part of a larger organization with greater resources,” Cohen added.

Meanwhile, Ryan Smith, group president of Lippert’s North American OEM operations, said in a press release that Freedman is a welcome addition to the Lippert family.

“Between the two companies, we have almost 200 years combined of family leadership and there’s not too many organizations that can claim that,” he continued. “We’re excited to add Freedman’s seating line to our growing portfolio of bus and transportation vehicle products and with our combined leadership teams we will be able to offer a better-than-ever customer experience to our partners in these industries.”

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I Squared Capital has reached an agreement to purchase all National Express School divisions and assets from the UK’s Mobico Group for $608 million U.S., including over 14,000 school buses operated by Durham School Services, Petermann and Stock Transportation.

The deal was announced Friday but had been expected by industry insiders for nearly 18 months. I Squared said it expects to finalize the acquisition of the Durham, Petermann Transportation and Stock brands by the end of its third quarter, or Sept. 30.

“We expect to continue business as usual under our current operating brands,” a National Express spokesperson told School Transportation News, adding the transition should be seamless for school district customers. “We will continue to deliver the high-quality, safe and reliable service that we’ve provided for more than 100 years.”

Mobico Group, formerly known as National Express Group and based in Birmingham, England, had been looking to sell its North American school bus division to reduce debt. At the same time, I Squared Capital, a global infrastructure investment company, was seeking entrance into the school bus industry and announced its intent to do so in October 2023, “to address the long-term challenges which the pandemic created for school bus.”

I Squared noted that National Express has made “significant operational improvements, primarily improving driver retention and recruitment, route reinstatement, and improved contract pricing.

“The business has also improved fleet allocation which has led to better asset utilization, cash flow and customer satisfaction. All of these culminated in school bus delivering a net positive route outcome for the current school year bid season, the first in over a decade,” the company stated in a transaction summary. “However, whilst school bus has demonstrated its recovery from the pandemic’s effects, it continues to require significant maintenance and growth capital investment and has experienced persistent market challenges such as driver wage inflation and, more recently, potential fleet cost inflation from new tariffs.”

Tim Wertner is expected to continue serving as CEO of National Express. He said the school bus contractor has focused on recovering lost routes, securing new contracts, recruiting and retaining drivers, and delivering price rises above inflation since he joined the company in 2023.

“This transfer of ownership will allow us to stand on a much stronger financial foundation for a wider spectrum of new opportunities and growth to benefit our stakeholders, valued partners and prospects, as well as reinforce our position as a transportation leader and flourish to even greater heights,” he said in a statement Friday. “With I Squared Capital’s strong reputation and support of our company, we firmly believe they will be an outstanding steward for us, and we look forward to furthering our footprint in the student transportation industry together.”

I Squared manages over $40 billion in assets that build and scale infrastructure businesses that deliver critical services to millions of people worldwide. The company’s portfolio includes over 90 companies operating in more than 70 countries and spanning sectors such as energy, utilities, digital infrastructure, transport, environmental and social infrastructure.

“School transportation is more than just a daily commute. It’s a vital link to education, which underpins a functioning society regardless of the economic cycle,” commented Gautam Bhandari, the global chief investment officer and managing partner at I Squared. “As infrastructure specialists, I Squared has specific expertise in providing vital public services, including public transport. Our investment will provide the capital needed to upgrade equipment and maintain safe, efficient transportation for children using this essential service so parents can [be] rest assured each time their family member travels.”

Mobico had operated Durham in the U.S. since the former National Express Group purchased the school bus contractor in August 1999, a year after acquiring Crabtree-Harmon that mostly operated in the Midwest. The company followed in 2000 with the purchase of School Services & Leasing, which at the time was the second-largest school bus contractor in the U.S. Two years later, it acquired Stock Transportation in Canada and in 2018 purchased Petermann in the U.S.

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The acquisition of Trans/Air Manufacturing by Lippert Components brings added resources and technology necessary to both companies at a time when increased U.S. tariffs could impact the global air conditioning supply chain, while also staying true to the 45-year history of the family company.

Those were two the reasons the deal announced March 31 — terms were not disclosed at this report — made sense to Rick Lehnert, Trans/Air’s long-time president and son of co-founder Dick Lehnert. Rick Lehnert went to work for his dad and uncle Ed Lehnert not long after the company opened in 1979, to provide air conditioning for buses and refrigeration for trucks. The company has since developed a full product line of evaporators, compressors, condensers, hoses and fitting systems, electronic controls, and custom-designed drive kits.

Lippert plans to maintain the Trans/Air brand, now known as Trans/Air by Lippert, a company spokeswoman confirmed. Lehnert added he plans to stay on as director of operations for the next three years to ensure a smooth transition.

It is the latest acquisition by Lippert, a subsidiary of LCI Industries, a $4 billion revenue company with 13,000 employees worldwide. The company is known for its diverse manufacturing capabilities for the recreation and transportation markets with shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange with ticker symbol LCII.

But the company also has its roots as a family business. Jason Lippert is president CEO, the grandson of Larry Lippert, who founded the company in 1959. His brothers are Jarrod Lippert, the chief marketing officer, and Jayde Lippert, director of customer care.

That was important to Lehnert, he told School Transportation News. The decision, an emotional one he added, to sell after years of being approached by other interested parties had to be the perfect fit.

“It checked all the boxes for me. It was good for customers, suppliers, employees and the family. They have the resources and technology and the cultural fit,” Lehnert said Wednesday. “I didn’t want to sell to somebody that would just swallow up and slice up the business but somebody that would give us what we needed to fuel the growth and expansion of the business. If you look at the Lippert organization, you can see all the different business units that they have, and some of the products are complimentary. They sell windows to a lot of the bus manufacturers in addition to other bus parts.”

Among the “significant advantages” of becoming a Lippert brand include the company’s extensive manufacturing resources and technological capabilities, Lehnert added. It also has a wide supplier network that provides potential benefits for any supply chain challenges that arise from the \tariffs imposed on imported components.

“They’re unique in that they do import [components] from overseas, as we all do in this global supply chain, but they make a lot. There’s a lot of expertise, systems and processes that they have that will really help Trans/Air [and] boost us,” Lehnert said.

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