HKW Sells Visioneering to 3P Equity and Silver Sail
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HKW Sells Visioneering to 3P Equity and Silver Sail

visioneering nfHammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company (HKW) has sold its portfolio company Visioneering, a designer, manufacturer, and installer of automation tooling systems, to 3P Equity Partners and Silver Sail Capital. Visioneering had been a portfolio company of HKW since 2007.

Visioneering is a designer, manufacturer, and installer of complex assembly automation tooling systems used in the aerospace and defense industry. Products include highly-machined large assembly fixtures to smaller close-tolerance tools, such as jigs, mill fixtures, bond and curing tools, and facilities equipment. Visioneering’s customers include Boeing, Goodrich (UTAS), GE/Middle River Aircraft Systems, ATK, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Bell, GKN, and Spirit Aerosystems. The company is based near Detroit in Fraser, MI (www.vistool.com).

“We were very pleased with the strong performance of Visioneering over the last several years. The company is known for its deep technical expertise and manufacturing “know-how”, combined with a deeply ingrained customer centric focus,” said Jeff Wood, CEO of HKW. “We are extremely appreciative of the strong leadership and dedication shown by CEO Jim Futterknecht and the entire management team at Visioneering. We are confident they have the right partner moving forward and wish them continued success.”

Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company invests in companies with revenues between $20 million and $200 million and EBITDAs between $2 million and $20 million. Over the past 29 years, HKW has completed 44 platform management buyouts of small middle-market companies throughout North America as well as 48 add-on acquisitions. The firm was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Indianapolis with an additional office in New York (www.hkwinc.com).

The buyers of Visioneering, 3P Equity Partners and Silver Sail, intend to continue to promote Visioneering’s organic growth initiatives and will pursue add-on acquisition opportunities.

3P Equity Partners invests in general manufacturing, plastics and packaging companies that have from $15 million to $75 million in revenues and $3 million to $10 million in EBITDA. The firm’s current portfolio includes several tooling and fixtures businesses in the US, as well as a number of industrial and food packaging organizations in Eastern Europe. 3P Equity Partners is headquartered near San Jose in Campbell, CA (www.3pequity.com).

Silver Sail Capital invests in companies that have from $10 million to $100 million in revenue and $2 million to $15 million in EBITDA. The firm invests in a variety of industries but has a specific interest in the consumer products, food, industrials and manufacturing sectors. Silver Sail was founded in 2012 and is based in Los Angeles (www.silversailcapital.com).

Investment bank D.A. Davidson & Co. (www.davidsoncompanies.com) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to HKW on the sale of Visioneering. “With our group’s keen understanding of the industry and potential buyers, D.A. Davidson was able to support the successful exit for HKW,” said Paul Weisbrich, managing director of D.A. Davidson’s Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services Group. “The aerospace and defense tooling automation world is experiencing a renaissance for three reasons. Fuel-saving requirements have propelled use of composites which are tool-intensive, both for ratable parts and modern flightline assembly techniques. Second, build rates are increasing to historic levels, stimulating more automation and continual changes to aircraft manufacturing assembly lines. Lastly, an aircraft is never done. Airplanes always evolve, build rates shift and derivatives are spawned. This activity constantly refreshes the tooling order books.”

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-10-13

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