KPS Capital Partners is an American

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under the ...

that manages KPS Special Situation Funds, a family of

investment fund An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...

s. KPS specifically invests out of two funds raised in October 2019: KPS Special Situations Fund V ($6.12 billion) and KPS Mid-Cap Fund ($1.02 billion).

History

The company was founded in 1991 by Eugene Keilin, Michael Psaros, and David Shapiro, hence the KPS name. KPS raised its first institutional fund in 1998. On May 6, 2019, KPS Capital Partners signed an agreement with

Brunswick Corporation Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Today, Brunswick has more than 13,000 employ ...

to purchase its fitness business valued at $490 million in an all cash transaction. In 2020, KPS completed five platform investments, including IKG (January 2020),

Lufkin Industries Lufkin Industries is an American manufacturing company founded in 1902 and headquartered in Missouri City, Texas. Lufkin is a provider of rod lift products, automated control and optimization equipment and software for rod lift equipment to the ...

(June 2020),

Briggs & Stratton Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of gasoline engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large facilit ...

(September 2020),

AM General AM General is an American heavy vehicle and contract automotive manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer H1, Hummer and the military Humvee that are assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana. For a relatively brie ...

(October 2020) and Hussey Copper (December 2020). In 2021, KPS announced the acquisition of the aluminum rolling business from

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world an ...

and the EMEA food and consumer packaging business from

Crown Holdings Crown Holdings, Inc., formerly Crown Cork & Seal Company, is an American company that makes metal beverage and food cans, metal aerosol containers, metal closures and specialty packing. Founded in 1892, it is headquartered in Yardley, Pennsylvan ...

Operations

The firm is not a hedge fund, but focuses on making controlling equity investments in manufacturing and industrial companies. Many of its investments "involve creating new companies " that buy underperforming assets, such as "companies operating in bankruptcy or in default of obligations to creditors", or otherwise with a history of "recurring operating losses". KPS is a global firm headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with offices in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

that invests in both North American and European-headquartered companies. The KPS Funds' portfolio companies currently have assets under management worth $12 billion, operate 158 manufacturing facilities in 22 countries, and have approximately 32,000 employees. In 2019, KPS Fund V, the firm's active flagship fund, had $15 billion of investor demand for a $6 billion fund." The ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' noted that, while private equity firms often have a bad reputation for stripping assets and slashing jobs when buying distressed companies, KPS has established a reputation for constructive relationships with the workforce and their unions. In 2009, Psaros estimated that he had saved about 20,000 jobs. Unions also have appreciated that KPS uses little or no debt in its deals and have called in KPS to save companies. KPS has worked with large manufacturing and industrial unions, having a "history of consulting workers" as noted by AFL-CIO. In Europe, KPS has established relationship and Framework Agreements with the German unions IG Metall and IG BCE.

Business units

The following (incomplete) list includes major companies that are or had been controlled by KPS: *

TaylorMade Golf TaylorMade Golf Company is an American sports equipment manufacturing company based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The company focuses on the golf equipment market, producing golf clubs, balls, and clothing. TaylorMade Golf is currently ...

Chase Brass and Copper Company Chase Brass is a leading manufacturer of brass rod, ingot and engineered products in the U.S. Located in Montpelier, Ohio, Chase employs over 200 hourly employees who are represented by the United Steelworkers Union (USW) Local 7248, and 98 salari ...

Franciscan Ceramics Franciscan Ceramics are ceramic tableware and tile products produced by Gladding, McBean & Co. in Los Angeles, California, from 1934 to 1962, International Pipe and Ceramics (Interpace) from 1962 to 1979, and Wedgwood from 1979 to 1983. Wedgwood c ...

Heritage Home Group Heritage Home Group LLC, formed to purchase most assets of the defunct Furniture Brands International, was a High Point, North Carolina-based home furnishings company. It owned the brands Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, and Drexel Heritage. Histor ...

Motor Coach Industries Motor Coach Industries (MCI) is a North American multinational bus manufacturer, specializing in production of motorcoaches. Best known for coaches produced for intercity transit and commuter buses, MCI produces coaches for a variety of appli ...

North American Breweries FIFCO USA is an American brewing company based in Rochester, New York. Established as North American Breweries by New York City investment firm KPS Capital Partners to manage its brewery acquisitions (Genesee Brewing Company, Pyramid, and Magi ...

Waterford Wedgwood Waterford Wedgwood plc was an Irish holding company for a group of firms that specialized in the manufacture of high-quality porcelain, bone china and glass products, mostly for use as tableware or home decor. The group was dominated by Irish bu ...

Chassis Brakes International Chassis Brakes International was a multinational manufacturer of automotive brakes and brake components. It was formed in June 2012 when the brakes division of Robert Bosch GmbH was sold to KPS Capital Partners KPS Capital Partners is an Ameri ...

* C&D Technologies * American & Efird *

Winoa Winoa is a French steel abrasives production and distribution company, specializing in the preparation, treatment and transformation of metal surfaces, the manufacture of steel shot and grit, stainless steel abrasives and cut-wire, technologica ...

* IES Holdings *

Life Fitness Life Fitness is an American fitness company specializing in the production and distribution of cardiovascular and strength training equipment under several brands including Life Fitness, Cybex and Hammer Strength. It is headquartered in Franklin ...

*Hussey Copper *Speira * Primient

Notes

External links

List of companies that were sold
Companies based in New York (state) Financial services companies established in 1991 Private equity firms of the United States Investment companies of the United States 1991 establishments in New York (state) {{US-private-equity-company-stub