BNS Holding Inc. is getting back to business.

BNS, of Middletown, had sold its operations and assets, and has had no trade or business since 2004.

But it has been searching.

Now, the company apparently has found what it has been looking for — an actual business to operate.

BNS last week said that it has acquired an 80-percent interest in Collins Industries, of Hutchinson, Kan.

Collins makes ambulances, rescue vehicles, small school buses and certain other vehicles.

“With this acquisition, [BNS] will resume its tradition as a leader in American industry,” BNS declared in a statement issued Oct. 31.

BNS was referring to its role as a successor company to the original Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co.

Brown & Sharpe was one of the oldest industrial companies in America. In 2001, Brown & Sharpe shareholders approved the sale of the company – including the Brown & Sharpe name – to Hexagon AB of Sweden.

Brown & Sharpe now operates as a unit of Hexagon. About two months ago, Brown & Sharpe officially opened a new $15-million manufacturing and assembly facility on 14 acres in the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown.

BNS’ original plan was to dissolve. But the company has since decided to remain in business, and had been looking for a company to operate.

It found Collins, which has about 1,000 employees and about $300 million in annual sales. It has executive offices in Texas, and manufacturing facilities in Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Florida, BNS said.

Technically, BNS acquired an 80-percent stake in the holding company that owns Collins Industries. An affiliate of American Industrial Partners, which manages private equity funds, also acquired a stake, according to documents that BNS filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

BNS paid $29.7 million for its stake. American Industrial Partners paid $2.8 million for its share, and will also provide management oversight of the operations of Collins, the SEC documents show.

As a result of its acquisition of a stake in Collins, BNS no longer considers itself a shell corporation, and “intends to carry on Collins’ business as its sole line of business,” BNS said in an SEC document filed on Monday.

The acquisition of Collins resulted in the resignation of Richard Donnelly as a director of BNS. Donnelly resigned, effective Oct. 31, to avoid any conflicts of interest, BNS said in an SEC filing.

Donnelly is on the board of directors of OshKosh Truck Corp., which designs and makes specialty trucks and truck bodies, and is a competitor of Collins.

BNS stock trades on the OTC Bulletin Board, under the symbol BNSIA. The stock recently traded for about $8.85 a share.