Middle market private equity firm Wynnchurch Capital has created Wynnchurch Industries LLC, a new company that will seek deals in the industrials market.

Wynnchurch Industries will be led by Grant Beard, the former CEO of Wolverine Advanced Materials, which was sold to ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT) in 2015. Beard has previously been an investor with Blue Point Capital, the Anderson Group, and the Oxford Group. 

Chicago-based Wynnchurch usually invests in businesses that have up to $15 million in Ebitda. The firm's new company will focus on "material manufacturers that serve industrial markets" that have "niche market leadership, proprietary competitive advantages, strong barriers to entry, stable core cash flows, and high margins."

Some of Wynnchurch’s other portfolio companies include auto parts distributor Fabco Automotive, drilling equipment company Loadmaster Derrick & Equipment and aerospace parts maker Northstar Aerospace. “It is our desire to create a vehicle to deploy capital" into the sector says Wynnchurch managing partner John Hatherly. For more on Wynnchurch see, Wynnchurch Leveraged Housing Recovery to Expand Portfolio in 2015.

Other recent industrials related deals include Kaman Corp.’s (NYSE: KAMN) purchase of bearings maker GRW Bearing Gmbh and Platte River Equity’s acquisition of industrials tool manufacturer Jameson LLC.

Manufacturing industry