American Industrial Partners (AIP) has purchased 100 per cent of the shares of KMT Group, Baxter Springs, KS, a value of US$147.5 million.
KMT designs and manufactures ultra high pressure pumps for waterjet machines. The company whose roots date back to 1954 has more than 400 employees and a turnover of approximately US$160 million. Its products are manufactured in facilities in the US, Sweden and China.
AIP is a middle-market private equity firm with investments in North American-based industrial businesses serving domestic and global markets.
Tomas Billing, CEO of Nordstjernan says “Nordstjernan first invested in KMT in 1999 when it was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. In 2003 we guaranteed the new share issuance that enabled the purchase of the ultrahigh-pressure pump business, which today constitutes KMT, and we took the company private in 2007. Since 2003, the UHP pump business has grown on average by 8 per cent organically per year. It has been a great journey and we would like to thank the management team and KMT employees for their contributions and dedicated work. We wish KMT and AIP the best of luck for the future.”
Richard Hoffman, Partner at AIP says “KMT is an engineering-centric business with cutting edge technology, highly respected brands, a large and loyal customer base, and an exciting new product development pipeline. AIP looks forward to partnering with management in the years to come in order to accelerate profitable growth by assisting in areas such as technology development, program management, quality systems, and technical service/field support. We look forward to joining this exciting industry in partnership with KMT management.”
