Semitrailer manufacturer CPS Trailer of Oran, Mo., has joined forces with Manac, based in Saint-Georges, Quebec, a division of The Canam Manac Group Inc.

The acquisition of certain assets of CPS trailer for $4.5 million will be Manac's first plant in the United States and will breathe new life into the Oran plant.

The transaction includes a 115,000-square-foot plant as well as certain raw materials and finished products. CPS Trailer manufactures bottom-dump trailers and specialty semitrailers. Annual production capacity is 800 units and the company currently employs more than 50 people.

The acquisition will allow the company to take advantage of an increase in demand. Manac's backlog is currently 2,753 units, compared with 984 in 2001.

Manac, the largest semitrailer manufacturer in Canada, controls over 30 percent of the market and built close to 5,700 units in 2001.