Roger Ketelsleger

Yale dealer Chase Equipment Company will be sold to Pape Group as owner Roger Ketelsleger retires.

While the transaction is still to be officially confirmed, it is understood Ketelsleger has told staff of his decision to stand down from the company he purchased in 1986.

Chase has branches in City of Industry, Los Angeles, Fontana, Escondido, Valencia and Huntington Beach in California, as well as operations in Hawaii, where it trades as Hawaiian Lift Truck Inc.

Chase has signed a Letter of Intent to sell the assets of the organisation to the Pape Group, another family-owned company that has been in business for over 80 years.

Chase staff have been told "there is not a better company in our industry that can provide you with tools, wages/benefits and work environment that they provide to their employees".

Neither Chase nor Pape has confirmed the sale or revealed any details of the transition after the change of ownership.

In 2018, Yale/Chase Equipment and Services sold its construction business division, JCB of Southern California, to JCB North America. "Building the JCB dealership has been a rewarding challenge," Ketelsleger said at the time. "The time is right for JCB to bring their passion and knowledge of the business to a major metropolitan region like Southern California. Operating a factory dealership in this region will enable JCB to better understand the dealer/customer needs in the US market."

Established as a capital equipment dealership in 1938 by E.C. Papé, Pape Group has since expanded its offerings to include solutions for the materials handling, directional drilling and trenching, construction and forestry, heavy-haul trucking, and agriculture and turf industries.

The group has 34 materials handling dealerships through California, Nevada, Washington, Montana and Oregon.