Bruce Oakley Inc. To Buy Lange-Stegmann

Bruce Oakley Inc., a North Little Rock, Ark.-based transporter and distributor of bulk commodities, has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the Lange-Stegmann Company, it was announced April 26.

Founded in St. Louis as a fertilizer wholesaler, and now a bulk commodity warehousing and transloading firm, Lange-Stegmann will “broaden our fertilizer distribution network and complement our other transportation services,” said Oakley president Dennis Oakley. The companies expect to close the sale on or around May 31.

Lange-Stegmann’s 60-acre site at Mile 182.7 on the Upper Mississippi River includes a barge dock, a rail yard with 23,000 feet of track, three locomotives, a truck and rail scale, and over 153,000 tons of storage capacity, including a 63,000-ton-capacity, state-of-the-art urea warehouse and five 10,000-ton-capacity domes designated for potash or phosphate. There are also two UAN tanks with a total capacity of 30,000 tons.

Lange-Stegmann began in 1926 as Lange Brothers Fertilizer selling fertilizer to customers throughout the Midwest. Then in 1965, a few years after Rich Stegmann, the current chairman, married Henry Lange’s daughter and joined the firm, the company became Lange-Stegmann. The shift from wholesaling fertilizer to being strictly a terminal operation came in 2008, after several years of fluctuating commodity prices.

The company’s focus continues to be on fertilizer-related products, but it also handles road salt and aggregate. Most products are received by barge and transported via rail. The terminal is easily accessible by truck, train or towboat. Lange-Stegmann’s workforce numbers around 35.

Bruce Oakley Inc., led by Dennis and Justin Oakley, was founded by Bruce Oakley in 1968 in El Paso, Ark., and has grown into a diverse bulk commodity transportation and distribution company serving customers throughout North America. “The Lange-Stegmann acquisition is a really good fit for us,” said Dennis Oakley, “and we’re happy to welcome all of their personnel aboard.”