aerospace components

Arlington Buys Triumph’s Fab Business

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Arlington Capital Partners has agreed to acquire the fabrications business of publicly-traded Triumph Group.

Triumph Fabrications consists of four companies that manufacture, coat, and assemble complex sheet metal components for fixed wing and rotorcraft platforms. In total, the four businesses generated revenues of approximately $150 million during Triumph Group’s last fiscal year which ended in March 2018.

Triumph Fabrications’ products are made from titanium, aluminum, stainless steel and most nickel-based alloys. The company’s capabilities include all forming methods including stretch, hydro, roll, cold expand, bulge, drop hammer, hot form, and super-plastic as well as welding, heat treating and annealing, metal and composite bonding, and specialty protective coatings including Sol-Gel applications.

Triumph Fabrications has more than one million sq. ft. of combined operating facilities in five locations in Fort Worth, TX; Hot Springs, AR; Phoenix, AZ; San Diego, CA; and Shelbyville, IN. Click HERE for the Triumph Fabrications website.

The sale of Triumph Fabrications is part of a transformation plan launched by Triumph Group in May 2016 to de-lever the company and streamline its operations. Since 2016, Triumph has divested 10 non-core businesses, including the sale of Triumph Fabrications.

“Today’s announcement to divest non-core businesses such as Triumph Fabrications advances our strategy to focus on areas of growth and value creation, such as our integrated systems and aftermarket businesses, while reducing our footprint and eliminating excess capacity and fixed costs,” said Dan Crowley, Triumph Group CEO. “Importantly, we believe Arlington Capital Partners will make the necessary investments into the fabrications business to accelerate its growth as a more focused operation.”

Arlington invests in buyouts and recapitalizations of companies valued from $50 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include government services and technology; aerospace and defense; healthcare; and business services and software. Arlington is investing out of its fourth fund which closed in July 2016 with $700 million of capital. The firm is based in Chevy Chase, MD (www.arlingtoncap.com).

Triumph Group (NYSE: TGI) designs, engineers, manufactures, repairs, overhauls, and distributes aerostructures, aircraft components, accessories, and subassemblies. Customers include original equipment manufacturers and military and commercial aircraft operators. The company, with annual revenues of approximately $3.2 billion, is headquartered near Philadelphia in Berwyn, PA (www.triumphgroup.com).

This transaction is expected to close in the next few months. Following the close of the transaction, Triumph Fabrications will retain its management, technical and supporting staff, and will continue operations at its current facilities.

Lazard (www.lazard.com) was the financial advisor to Triumph on the transaction.

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 29, 2019

Warburg Sells Extant to TransDigm

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Warburg Pincus has agreed to sell Extant Components Group, a maker of aerospace components, to publicly-traded TransDigm Group for $525 million in cash.

Extant Components Group was formed in 2010 by Warburg Pincus in partnership with aerospace executive James Gerwien. The company specializes in the engineering, manufacturing, supply, repair and overhaul of aftermarket components utilized on military and commercial aircraft. Extant focuses on supporting components on platforms at the end of their production lives, but with long-lived fleets that drive aftermarket demand. The company is headquartered in Melbourne, FL and has 170 employees (www.extantcomponentsgroup.com).

Extant’s strategy is to license or acquire mature, non-core electronics and electro-mechanical products from OEM’s. Its current product portfolio consists of over 2,500 proprietary, aftermarket-focused assemblies and sub-assemblies on over 70 active platforms supporting more than 400 military and commercial customers. “We are proud to have grown Extant into a leading, one-of-a-kind provider of aftermarket support and solutions across the aerospace and defense markets,” said Mr. Gerwien. “We have built a diverse portfolio of products and established longstanding, trusted partnerships and customer relationships with the industry’s leading OEMs.”

Extant expects proforma revenues for the fiscal year ending September 2018 to be approximately $85 million. The revenue is derived from a mix of military and commercial applications, with the majority of the revenue coming from the military end market. Extant’s largest platforms include the F-16, AH-64, F-18, F-15, and C-130. Commercial platforms include the King Air series, MD 900/902, B747, B757 and B777. The company also serves business jet platforms such as the Bombardier Learjet family, Cessna Citation family, and various Gulfstream aircraft.

“Extant has established a market-leading position in the aftermarket aerospace components sector, supporting numerous leading OEM licensing partners and serving hundreds of military and commercial customers,” said Dan Zamlong, a Managing Director of Warburg Pincus. “It was a pleasure to partner with Jim Gerwien and his team and we thank them for their exceptional dedication to building the business over the last eight years.  We are confident in Extant’s future growth and we wish the company continued success under TransDigm’s ownership.”

TransDigm Group (NYSE: TDG) is a designer, producer and supplier of a wide range of aircraft components for use on nearly all commercial and military aircraft in service today. The company is headquartered in Cleveland (www.transdigm.com).

“Extant has an unusual and attractive business model, with significant opportunities for growth,” said W. Nicholas Howley, Chairman and CEO of TransDigm. “This unique model fits well with our proprietary and aftermarket-focused value generation strategy. As usual, we anticipate attractive private equity type returns on this acquisition.” TransDigm will finance the acquisition of Extant through a combination of cash on hand and availability under its existing revolving credit facility.

Warburg Pincus has more than $44 billion in assets under management and has raised 16 private equity funds since its founding in 1966. In November 2015, the firm reached a final close of Warburg Pincus Private Equity XII LP at the hard cap of $12 billion. Warburg Pincus is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore (www.warburgpincus.com).

Extant was advised by Lazard and Wells Fargo Securities. The transaction is expected to close before the end of June 2018.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 20, 2018

Rift Valley Acquires Crow Precision Components

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Rift Valley Equity Partners has acquired the assets of forged components manufacturer MW Crow (DBA W. Pat Crow Forgings) through Crow Precision Components, an affiliated company.

Crow Precision Components is a manufacturer of forged components used by companies operating in the aerospace, defense, industrial, oil & gas and power generation sectors.  The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered Fort Worth, TX (www.crowcomponents.com).

“We are excited to partner with Cesar Garza and the rest of the management team at Crow,” said David Caputo, Managing Partner of Rift Valley. “We believe Crow’s specialized expertise, responsiveness and best-in-class custom production capabilities provide a unique value proposition to its customers. We look forward to continuing to deliver the highest level of service while expanding our capabilities and building a leading company within the precision components industry.”

Rift Valley is focused on supporting Crow for the long term including making additional investments to grow and enhance the company’s capabilities and product offering.

“Rift Valley is the ideal partner for Crow,” said Mr. Garza. “They bring both capital resources and a passion for building market-leading companies.  Rift Valley shares our commitment to delivering the highest quality products together with an equally high level of service, and we will benefit immensely from Rift Valley’s resources.”

Rift Valley makes control investments in North American based companies that have up to $150 million of revenue and $5 million to $15 million of EBITDA.  Sectors of interest include consumer products & services; retail; and industrial products & services.  Rift Valley was founded by David Caputo and has offices in New York and Toronto (www.riftvalleyequity.com).

2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-1-14

Warburg Acquires Wencor from Odyssey

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Warburg Pincus has entered into an agreement to acquire Wencor Group, a designer, repair provider and distributor of aftermarket aerospace components, from Odyssey Investment Partners which acquired the company in January 2010.  The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

Wencor is a provider of aftermarket components to the commercial, military and general aviation aircraft sectors.  Customers include commercial airlines and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers.  Wencor’s Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) catalogue includes approximately 4,000 different parts for customers including airlines, maintenance, repair and overhaul shops and original equipment manufacturers.  Wencor’s aftermarket distribution business provides a channel to more than 3,700 customers around the world.  The company is led by Greg Beason, CEO, and is headquartered near Provo in Springville, UT (www.wencor.com).

“It was a pleasure to partner with Greg Beason and his team during our ownership.  They did an extraordinary job of growing the breadth of Wencor’s products and services while further enhancing its reputation as a leader in the aerospace aftermarket.  We believe there are many exciting growth opportunities ahead for Greg and Wencor under Warburg Pincus’ ownership, and we wish them the best,” said Bill Hopkins, a Managing Principal and Co-President of Odyssey Investment Partners.

Odyssey Investment Partners is a middle-market private equity firm with more than $3 billion under management. Odyssey makes control investments primarily in established middle-market companies in a variety of industries, including industrial manufacturing; business, financial and healthcare services; aerospace products; and localized and route-based service businesses. The firm has offices in New York and Woodland Hills, CA (www.odysseyinvestment.com).

“We are very pleased to partner with Greg and the Wencor management team and believe there is significant opportunity to build on Wencor’s success by developing new product and repair offerings.  Wencor offers airline and MRO customers a compelling source for aftermarket components and repairs and we look forward to working with the management team to pursue organic and acquisition growth initiatives,” said Dan Zamlong, Managing Director at Warburg Pincus.

Warburg Pincus has more than $35 billion in assets under management and has raised 13 private equity funds which have invested more than $48 billion in approximately 700 companies in 35 countries. The firm was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Port Louis, Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai (www.warburgpincus.com).

Harris Williams & Co. acted as financial advisors to Wencor. Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisors to Warburg Pincus.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-22-14

Bridgepoint Exits Permaswage

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Permaswage, a designer and manufacturer of aerospace fluid fittings and a portfolio company of Bridgepoint, has been sold to Precision Castparts for $600 million in an all cash transaction. Bridgepoint acquired Permaswage in 2007.

Permaswage is an aerospace component supplier manufacturing permanent and separable couplings used to connect hydraulic, air, fuel or other tubing in all types of civil and military aircraft. Permaswage also supplies components used by utilities for electricity sub-stations. The company’s customers include Airbus and Boeing and four of the top five US utility companies. Permaswage has facilities in Los Angeles (headquarters), Paris and Suzhou (China) (www.permaswage.com).

Precision Castparts is a diversified manufacturer of complex metal components and products sold to the aerospace, power, and general industrial markets. Products include large investment castings, airfoil castings, forged components and fasteners for aerospace applications. Precision Castparts also manufactures extruded seamless pipe, fittings, forgings, and clad products for power generation and oil & gas applications; commercial and military airframe aerostructures; and metal alloys and other materials to the casting, forging, and other industries. The company is headquartered in Portland, OR (www.precast.com).

Bridgepoint typically acquires businesses valued between €200 million and €1 billion in a range of sectors. The firm has offices in Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Stockholm and a portfolio development office in Shanghai (www.bridgepoint.eu).

Lazard served as the exclusive financial advisor to Permaswage on this transaction.

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-28-13