Sun Capital Cleared to Buy Arch
Betting on a construction sector recovery, the Florida PE firm will acquire the fabrication company for $53.8 million.
January 19, 2010
As the home building sector continues to soften, Boca Raton, Florida-based buyout firm Sun Capital Partners, Inc. received court approval to acquire the Arch Aluminum & Glass Company in a bankruptcy sale.
The decision, which was issued by the Southern District of Florida bankruptcy court, will enable the investment firm to wrest control of the architectural glass and aluminum fabricator from Boulder, Colorado-based Grey Mountain Partners LLC, the private equity firm that was initially named stalking horse bidder of the architectural glass and aluminum fabricator company. Arch filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2009. Sun Capital will pay $53.8 million for the Tamarac, Florida-based company, according to court papers.
Aaron P. Wolfe, a Sun Capital principal, led the transaction for the private equity firm. Wolfe, who joined the firm in 2002. Wolfe was formerly a investment banker at Harris Williams & Co. In addition, Sun Capital managing director Jason Neimark, vice-president Mark Kuchenrither and associate Stephen D’Incelli worked on the transaction.
In speaking with Mergers & Acquisitions, Wolfe said the residential and industrial building supplies industry has been severely impacted. He noted that the firm will focus of capitalizing the business, and is prepared “for a prolonged downturn.”
Wolfe called the company “a very good business has been impacted by the sector developments”
Sun Capital invested in the fabrication industry last year. Manoir Industries SA, a Paris-based portfolio company of the buyout firm acquired Hi–Tech Fabrication Ltd. in April 2008. In November 2007, Sun Capital purchased a control stake in the Piscataway, New Jersey-based plumbing fixture company American Standard.
The private equity firm has increasingly pursued bankruptcy transactions over the past year. The investment firm purchased a control stake in Lang Holdings, Inc. in October 2009.
In April 2007, the firm closed its fifth fund, Sun Capital Partners V, L.P., with about $6 billion in capital commitments. In addition to Sun Capital’s Florida headquarters, the firm has additional locations in New York; Los Angeles; London, UK; Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Paris, France; Shanghai, China; Shenzhen, China.
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