Ox Tools has acquired Bora Tool.
Bora Tool was owned by Affinity Tool Works, and has acquired and absorbed a number of tool brands over the years, such as HTC, Portamate, and Centipede workstands.
Bora’s catalog includes lumber racks, miter saw stands, sawhorses, clamps, and clamp-on saw guides, and other woodworking products, while Ox Tools’ product catalog focuses more on general purpose construction tools.
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This is the entirety of the announcement, which was posted to the brands’ social media channels:
Exciting News! Today, OX Tools acquires BORA Tool creating a dynamic force in the tool industry! Our unified vision focuses on innovation, quality, and delivering superior solutions.
Together, we combine expertise to introduce groundbreaking solutions and serve customers worldwide. The transition will be seamless, and we’re committed to maintaining the high standards you’ve come to expect.
Stronger together from foundation to finish!
Digging a little deeper, this glimpse of an Ox Tools trade show display suggests that the “from foundation to finish” tagline could carry over into the brands’ overarching strategy.
It will be interesting to see how this bolsters both brands’ efforts in the US and global tool markets.
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MT
“Our unified vision focuses on innovation, quality, and delivering superior solutions.”
I’m not familiar with either of these companies, but I know empty meaningless corporate-speak when I see it.
Wayne R.
A department where I work has been renamed “Effectiveness”. A new pinnacle in, what?, management gibberish?
The ongoing evolution of the meaningless org chart.
Thomas Campbell
You must know much about tools then.
fred
Did the other brands (HTC, Portamate, and Centipede) go with the sale to OX ?
And – will OX still be headquartered in the UK?
Stuart
They didn’t say – the entirety of the announcement is quoted above.
I am assuming with high confidence that Bora brands are wrapped up in the acquisition. They’ve already been absorbed into Bora, rather than sitting next to Bora under Affinity Tool Works ownership.
fred
I looked at the Affinity site – and HTC still seems to be represented by them – along with Fisch and Sjöbergs
https://affinitytool.com/brands.html
Stuart
I looked into that yesterday – they don’t own some of those brands, with earlier announcement language suggesting they are/were just the local distributor agent.
In a similar sense Bondhus distributes for Felo.
fred
That’s my take on what they say too – claiming to be “representatives” for the 3 brands I listed. Does that make them the importers – maybe not.
Kent_Skinner
I had such a bad experience with Bora customer support. Hopefully that can change with new owners.
I ordered a product through Amazon, and it was clearly not new. Missing parts, dirty, etc. However it was in an unopened, factory fresh box. Clearly not Amazon’s problem.
I contacted CS on the phone, and was treated with massive indifference. They wanted pages of documentation and photos. They demanded a serial number, on a product that doesn’t get them (they obviously weren’t listening).
The final communication (after several emails) was from me “you’re expecting me to spend more than an hour or two to help solve a warehouse problem, on a product I paid $50 for. You haven’t offered to replace it, repair it, send me the missing parts or even ask what’s wrong with it.” I got no reply.
They can go rot. Everybody has problems from time to time, it’s how you deal with the problems that separates the good companies from the crap companies.
Wayne
Just a matter of time before Stanley Black and decker buys them 😕
Stuart
I don’t see that happening.
blocky
I have some Bora tools that see a lot of use- adjustable speed horses, centipede, and mini clamps. They are neither premium nor budget tools, but they are unique solutions that reduce pain points in my work flow. Quality and price matches the design.
I’ve been less impressed with the Ox tools that I have tried – trim bars and levels – found them to be middle quality for a somewhat higher price, and needlessly heavy.
I hope that Ox ownership leaves room for Bora’s guiding principles to stay the course.
JR Ramos
Bora seemed to be struggling over the last 4-5 years but my experience with them is pretty limited. Some decent and unique items but not a lot of recognition and suspect for some things the cheap copies may have eaten their profits away in short order. They have a chisel roll that is actually very nice quality and a good design for not much money (great for files as well, bit bulky/thick for wrenches although it’d work). Easier to find these days on Amazon but Bora was also reselling a couple simple dual-sided bench water stones that were priced well and decent enough for utility…seemed like an odd addition to their line. Looking at the lack of updates and information on their website and various online product listings (some were grossly incorrect and just stayed that way) made me think they were a skeleton crew warehouse operation or that they were hurting financially. At any rate, I hope Ox at least keeps the Bora products the same (or at least doesn’t cheapen them up further) even if the Bora name may disappear in the future, as often happens with these acquisitions.