Vitesse Systems, a platform investment of Trive Capital that provides components used in communication, radar and electronic warfare systems, has acquired Sterling Precision.
Sterling Precision is a provider of aluminum dip brazing, CNC machining, welding, heat treating, chemical film coatings, and electro-mechanical assembly services. Aluminum dip brazing is a 1,100-degree molten salt bath immersion process where every product joint, despite its complexity, is fused together becoming as structurally sound as the assembly’s parent material.
Many fabricated aluminum assemblies in the aerospace industry utilize aluminum dip brazing. Sterling Precision is headquartered 45 miles west of Boston in Clinton, Massachusetts.
Vitesse Systems was formed by Trive in December 2018 shortly after its acquisition of California Brazing, a provider of CNC machining, metallic and ceramic vacuum brazing, and heat-treating services for both OEM and Tier 1 defense and communication customers. The company’s products include satellite waveguides (systems that guide electromagnetic waves with minimal loss of energy), antenna sub-systems, cold plates and other thermal management devices.
The company’s furnace brazing capabilities include active metal brazing of ceramics, refractory and reactive metals, including copper. Vacuum brazing is a high-end joining technology because it results in parts with extremely strong joints and with no residual corrosive flux. It is a process in which two base metals, such as aluminum plates, are joined together using a filler metal that has a melting point below that of the base metal.
California Brazing, founded in 2002 and led by CEO Rich Penrose, has nine vacuum furnaces (including four aluminum vacuum brazing furnaces and three cold wall hydrogen brazing furnaces) at its facilities in Newark, California (headquarters) and Carson City, Nevada.
“We launched the Vitesse Systems platform based on the proliferation of electronic weapons and communication systems and the resultant increase in demand for efficient thermal management and data transmission solutions,” said David Stinnett, a partner at Trive. “Over the past three years, we have seen the government accelerate investment in electronic warfare and the ‘connected battlefield’. In response, we have doubled manufacturing and engineering capacity at California Brazing. The addition of Sterling Precision will enable Vitesse to support a broader range of applications and will build upon Vitesse’s thermal management and precision waveguide manufacturing capability.”
Trive invests from $10 million to $150 million of debt or equity in North America-headquartered companies with revenues of $40 million to $1.5 billion. The firm is industry-agnostic but has specific experience across a range of sectors including aerospace and defense, automotive, building products, business services, chemicals, and consumer goods. The Dallas-headquartered firm was founded in 2012 by Conner Searcy and Chris Zugaro.
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