Speyside Foundry Holdings, a portfolio company of Speyside Equity’s first fund, has acquired Hazleton Casting Company and its sister company Weatherly Casting and Machine Company.
Hazleton Casting Company is a steel foundry specializing in alloy steel casting. The company has multiple induction furnaces, simulation software and in-house 3-D printing functionality to provide customers with a range of technical capabilities and the ability to cast, machine, assemble and test large complex products.
The Hazleton facility has operated continuously since the early 1900s and is based near Scranton in Hazleton, PA (www.wecast.com).
Weatherly Casting and Machine Company, located just nine miles from Hazleton Casting, is an iron and iron alloy foundry specializing in very large castings. Weatherly also provides machining services along with other value-add services such as laboratory and non-destructive testing. The company is based in Weatherly, PA (www.wecast.com).
“Hazleton and Weatherly offer a fuller suite of solutions, both alloys and capabilities, for our existing portfolio foundries Sawbrook and Ashland,” said Jeffrey Stone, a managing director for Speyside. “As the industry has been consolidating in North America over the past several decades, we strive to provide our customers with high quality, dependable and sustainable long-term partnerships.”
Speyside has been an active investor in the foundry sector. Two other recent transactions include the May 2017 buy of Ashland Foundry and Machine Works, an Ashland, PA-based steel foundry that specializes in pump component and assemblies for the chemicals, mining, water, and industrial markets; and the May 2016 buy of Dalton Foundry, a Warsaw, IN-based manufacturer of machined gray iron castings that are used in the industrial, HVAC, agricultural, marine and construction sectors. Speyside also owns Cincinnati-based Sawbrook Steel Casting Company.
Speyside invests in companies that have enterprise valuations from $20 million to $200 million, revenues from $20 million to $300 million, and are based in the United States or Western Europe. Sectors of interest include specialty chemicals and minerals, metal forming and fabrication, plastics, building products, food ingredients, and other industrial businesses. Transaction types include spin-offs and carve-outs of large multinational businesses, industry consolidations, or family-owned businesses. The firm prefers situations where there are opportunities to leverage its operating expertise to improve financial performance and create shareholder value.
Since closing Speyside Equity Fund I LP in April 2016 with $130 million of capital, the firm has closed 18 acquisitions across the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Speyside’s portfolio companies generate total revenues of over $1 billion while employing over 3,000 people. The transactions have included diverse situations including corporate carve-outs, public to private conversions, private sales, and purchases of distressed debt and assets out of bankruptcy.
Speyside was founded in 2005 and is based in Detroit (www.speysideequity.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | June 19, 2019
