1988 FIN – Hunter-Stevens Acquired by HFC
By Dick Callahan, FIN Editor
September 16, 1988 FIN – Hunter-Stevens Co., Franklin Park, Illinois, has been purchased y the HFC Acquisition Corp., an investment group which include three fastener industry veterans.
The new owners of Hunter-Stevens include Joe Fuller, president; Paul Bridgeman, secretary and treasurer; and John Zizzo, executive vice president and general manager in charge of operations.
Fuller and Bridgeman have extensive background in the fastener industry with their own ventures and also as associates. The two, who are also representing other lines as well in the Midwestern areas, will handle the sales and marketing duties for Hunter-Stevens.
Fuller was the former president and owner of Joseph Fuller Co. Inc., which was sold to Nissho Iwai in 1983.
Bridgeman, through the years, founded Manufacturers Bolt & Nut Co., and Sun Coast Fasteners, both of which Joe Fuller had an interest in through the years.
After selling his interests in Manufacturers Bolt and Sun Coast, Bridgeman established Paul Bridgeman & Associates, a manufacturers’ rep agency covering the Midwest in the greater Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis areas.
Fuller also established Fuller Group Ltd., Hinsdale, Illinois, which represents Allied International’s American Eagle importing division for the Midwest.
Zizzo started working for Hunter-Stevens in the early 70s as an inside sales rep. He joined American Socket Screw as district sales manager for five years and in 1984 returned to Hunter-Stevens as general manager.
Zizzo has been instrumental in keeping alive what is now left of a greatly stripped down company. Back in 1983, when MSL Industries owned Hunter-Stevens, had closed a number of operations leaving one 70,000 sq ft facility in River Grove, Illinois. MSL sold off some of the equipment from that facility as well, but believed that the specialty fastener business could be profitable in the Midwest area. The operations at River Grove were later moved to Franklin Park.
Zizzo, after rejoining Hunter-Stevens as general manager, was asked to run the specialty fastener business and also, he tells FIN, to find a potential buyer.
Mechanical Components Inc., Wheeling, Illinois, purchased Hunter-Stevens late in 1984, and Zizzo continued to oversee the operation until the recent acquisition. ©1988/2011 Fastener Industry News
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