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 t ...

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 (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 facili ...

(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 and the military Humvee that are assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana. For a relatively brief period, ...

(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 a ...

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 it ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

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 *

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 * Heritage Home Group *

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 *

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 ...

* Chassis Brakes International * C&D Technologies * American & Efird * Winoa * IES Holdings * Life Fitness *

*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