KPS Capital Partners announced that its portfolio company Electrical Components International, Inc. (ECI) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Global Harness Systems, Inc. (GHS). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Financing for the transaction will be provided by a syndicate of banks and institutional investors with BofA Merrill Lynch and GE Capital Markets, Inc. acting as lead arrangers.
ECI is the world's leading manufacturer of wire harnesses and value-added assembly services for consumer appliance and specialty-industrial applications. ECI has over 800 customers globally and its products can be found in a wide variety of electronic and electro-mechanical applications, including home appliances, agriculture and construction, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), specialty transportation, automotive, commercial appliance, and commercial electronics. ECI has 12 manufacturing facilities located in Canada, China, Mexico, Morocco, Poland and Spain with over 12,000 associates worldwide. KPS acquired ECI in May 2014.
GHS, founded in the 1930s, is a leading North American manufacturer of wire harnesses and panel assemblies for the bus, power generation, specialty vehicle and marine equipment end-markets. The company's customers include the leading North American OEMs in the end-markets it serves. GHS manufactures highly-complex and very large-scale wire harnesses, while also producing a vast number of unique part numbers for each of its key customers. The company owns and operates two manufacturing facilities located in Juarez, Mexico and Atlanta, Texas, and employs approximately 800 associates.
Raquel Palmer, a Partner of KPS, said, "We are very excited about the progress that ECI has made under KPS ownership to date. Over the past several months, ECI has successfully launched its new, world-class, low-cost manufacturing facility in Morocco to serve the European market, while winning significant new business in both appliance and specialty-industrial end-markets. The strategic and industrial logic of ECI acquiring GHS is extraordinarily compelling, allowing ECI to enter new markets while also leveraging its industry-leading quality, service and product development capabilities to enhance GHS's operations. We look forward to continuing to aggressively grow ECI both organically and through acquisitions in both North America and around the world."
Completion of the transaction is expected in January 2015.
ECI was founded in the 1950s and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri with 12 manufacturing facilities, 14 distribution centers and sales and engineering offices located in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Africa.
Founded in the 1930s and headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, GHS is a leading North American manufacturer of wire harnesses and panel assemblies for the bus, power generation, specialty vehicle and marine equipment end-markets.
KPS is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of investment funds with more than $5.7 billion of assets under management.