NEW YORK — KPS Capital Partners, LP (“KPS”) announced today that, through a newly formed affiliate, it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Electrical Components International, Inc. and its affiliates (“ECI” or the “Company”). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
ECI is the world’s leading manufacturer of wire harnesses and value-added assembly services for consumer appliance and specialty-industrial applications. ECI has successfully served its global, blue-chip customer base of market-leading appliance and specialty-industrial original equipment manufacturers for over 60 years. The Company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri and employs over 12,000 people worldwide, with 12 manufacturing facilities located in Canada, China, Mexico, Morocco, Poland and Spain in addition to 14 distribution centers and sales and engineering offices.
Raquel Palmer, a Partner of KPS, said, “We are very excited to acquire Electrical Components International. ECI is a critical supplier to the leading companies in the consumer appliance, commercial appliance, HVAC, specialty transportation, construction and agriculture, auto and commercial electronics industriesand is a market share leader in North America and Europe, with a growing presence in Asia and South America. The Company has an industry-leading reputation for quality, service and product development, with a strategic global manufacturing footprint. We intend to aggressively grow the ECI platform both organically and through acquisitions by continuing to support ECI’s strength in North America and Europe and providing additional capital to pursue growth initiatives in key emerging markets such as South America and Asia.”
David Webster, Chief Executive Officer of ECI, said, “The entire ECI team is excited to partner with KPS with which we share an identical culture and formula for business success. We are both committed to achieving total customer satisfaction, pursuing manufacturing excellence and driving continuous improvement. Over the last five years, our success formula has allowed us to double our customer base and extend both our geographic reach and markets served. Our ability to drive both organic and inorganic growth will be greatly enhanced by KPS’ ownership. We look forward to continuing to be the wire harness and value-added assembly services provider of choice while delivering industry-leading quality, service and innovation to our global customer base.”
Completion of the transaction is expected during the second quarter of 2014 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP served as legal counsel to KPS and its affiliates. Financing for the transaction will be provided by a syndicate of banks and institutional investors with BofA Merrill Lynch, GE Capital Markets, Inc. and Fifth Third Bank acting as Lead Arrangers.
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