Charlotte-based Dynacast International, a diecaster and metal injection-molding operation, has a new controlling shareholder as several members of is investment syndicate depart in a reported $1.1 billion transaction. The deal is expected to close next month. The new lead investor is Partners Group, a private-equity group based in Switzerland, with reported assets totaling more than $40 billion.
"Dynacast has a long and rich history of continuously refining our proprietary manufacturing technologies, in-house tooling expertise and innovative design processes to manufacture highly complex metal components in a fast, repeatable and precise manner to provide greater value to our customers,” according to Simon Newman, CEO. “With the investment led by Partners Group, we have the strategic support and capital backing to enter into the next phase of growth for our company."
Joining Partners Group is Kenner & Company, a New York-based fund that specializes in middle-market industrial and manufacturing businesses, and the company’s management team. Those partners already hold stakes in Dynacast, having been part of a previous ownership syndicate.
The sellers are private investors who had been part of a 2011 acquisition of Dynacast, and include Izurium Capital Management, W Capital Partners, Laurel Crown Partners, Babson Capital Management, and Macquarie Capital.
Dynacast has 23 plants in 16 countries, producing a range of complex metal components it supplies to customers in the automotive, telecommunications, computing, consumer electronics, and healthcare industries. Its diecastings (aluminum, magnesium, and zinc) are produced by both cold-chamber and hot-chamber processes.
The group also has proprietary metal injection-molding capabilities (combining aspects of plastic injection molding and powder-metal parts manufacturing) for copper, stainless steel, and low-alloy steel. In October, Dynacast acquired a rival MIM producer, Kinetics Climax Inc.
Joel Schwartz, managing director of Partners Group stated: "Dynacast already has a truly differentiated position as a global supplier in the precision metal components marketplace and we see exciting potential for further expansion. We believe our global platform and deep network of industry relationships make us the ideal partner to back management's vision for the business going forward, particularly through our assistance with acquisitions and with the deepening of the company's integrated, worldwide approach."