Patriarch Partners, LLC, a New York and Charlotte, N.C.-based investment firm, announced Thursday that it has acquired American LaFrance from DaimlerChrysler's Freightliner.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

American LaFrance, which builds fire rescue equipment such as ambulances and fire trucks, has manufacturing facilities in several states, including a plant in Casper.

The local operation formerly was Becker Fire Equipment Co., a business Walter Becker started in the 1950s. Becker Fire began making its own fire trucks in the late 1980s, and developed domestic and international markets for its products.

How the acquisition of American LaFrance might affect the Casper facility was not immediately clear. Calls to Patriarch Partners and American LaFrance were not returned Thursday.

The Ladson, S.C., corporate headquarters building of American LaFrance is not included in the sale but will remain a DaimlerChrysler asset, according to a press release. It will be used in part by American LaFrance until 2007. DaimlerChyrsler has said the building will become an assembly facility for the Dodge Sprinter van.

American LaFrance has built fire and rescue equipment for almost 175 years.

Patriarch Partners provides portfolio management services to eight leveraged funds and a private equity fund, which has a diverse portfolio of international companies and credit facilities with an aggregate asset value of about $5 billion.

Business Editor Tom Mast can be reached at tom.mast@casperstartribune.net, or call 307-266-0574.