KPS Capital Partners is an American investment company that manages KPS Special Situation Funds, a family of investment funds. 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).[2]

KPS Capital Partners
Company typePrivate
IndustryPrivate Equity
Founded1991[1]
HeadquartersNew York, New York
Key people
Michael Psaros, David Shapiro, Raquel Palmer, Jay Bernstein
ProductsLeveraged buyout
Total assets$12 billion
Websitewww.kpsfund.com

History

edit

The company was founded in 1991 by Eugene Keilin, Michael Psaros, and David Shapiro, hence the KPS name.[3] KPS raised its first institutional fund in 1998.[4][5] On May 6, 2019, KPS Capital Partners signed an agreement with Brunswick Corporation to purchase its fitness business valued at $490 million in an all cash transaction.[6] In 2020, KPS completed five platform investments, including IKG (January 2020),[7] Lufkin Industries (June 2020),[8] Briggs & Stratton (September 2020),[9] AM General (October 2020)[10] and Hussey Copper (December 2020).[11] In 2021, KPS announced the acquisition of the aluminum rolling business from Norsk Hydro[12] and the EMEA food and consumer packaging business from Crown Holdings. [13]

Operations

edit

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".[14] KPS is a global firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Frankfurt and Amsterdam 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.[15][16] In 2019, KPS Fund V, the firm's active flagship fund, had $15 billion of investor demand for a $6 billion fund."[2][17]

The Financial Times 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.[18] In 2009, Psaros estimated that he had saved about 20,000 jobs.[18] Unions also have appreciated that KPS uses little or no debt in its deals and have called in KPS to save companies.[18] 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.[19][20]

Business units

edit

The following (incomplete) list includes major companies that are or had been controlled by KPS:[21]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Bloomberg Business Company Snapshot
  2. ^ a b Kreutzer, Laura. "KPS Capital Partners Raises $7 Billion for Newest Funds". The Wall Street Journal.
  3. ^ Boselovic, Len (February 16, 2014). "Heard Off the Street: Psaros based his career on a bold experiment". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  4. ^ Cardoletti, Giada (August 2005). "Working with Unions is Labor of Love for KPS" (PDF). DowJones Private Equity Analyst. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  5. ^ Staff, T. N. H. "Psaros and Shapiro's KPS Simultaneously Closes $6B Special Situations Fund V and $1B Mid-Cap Fund". The National Herald. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  6. ^ "Brunswick Announces Sale of Fitness Business". Brunswick Corporation. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  7. ^ "KPS Capital Partners Acquires IKG Industries | Mergr". mergr.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  8. ^ Garcia, Luis (2020-05-01). "KPS Capital Bets on Energy in Buying Lufkin Unit of Baker Hughes". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  9. ^ "KPS Capital Goes on Offense Buying Humvee and Lawn Mower Makers". Bloomberg.com. 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  10. ^ Judson, Joe Gould, Jen (2020-07-22). "Private equity firm buys Humvee-maker AM General". Defense News. Retrieved 2021-04-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "KPS Capital Partners Acquires Hussey Copper - Metal Center News". www.metalcenternews.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  12. ^ "Norsk Hydro sells its aluminum rolling business". Recycling Today. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  13. ^ "KPS Capital Partners to acquire aerosol, food packaging business from Crown". World Aerosols. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  14. ^ McNulty, John. "KPS Races to $7 Billion, 30% Carry". Private Equity Professional.
  15. ^ McNulty, John (2019-10-21). "KPS Races to $7 Billion, 30% Carry". Private Equity Professional. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  16. ^ a b "Hussey Copper bought by private equity firm looking for growth". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  17. ^ Kreutzer, Laura. "Kreutzer's Take: Four Takeaways From KPS's Latest Fundraising". The Wall Street Journal.
  18. ^ a b c Arnold, Martin (March 26, 2009). "The friendly barbarian". Financial Times. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  19. ^ Boyce, Christopher. "Private equity firm KPS works with unions for a smooth transition" (PDF). St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  20. ^ "Hydro to Sell Rolling Business to KPS Capital Partners". Steel Guru. Steel Guru Business News.
  21. ^ "Private Equity Firm, Manufacturing". KPS Capital Partners. 2014.
  22. ^ "Princess Yachts". KPS Capital Partners. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  23. ^ "TaylorMade Golf sold for $425 million to KPS Capital Partners LP". Golf. May 10, 2017.
  24. ^ Gould, Joe (August 13, 2020). "AM General CEO on acquisition by a private equity firm". Defensenews. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  25. ^ "Briggs & Stratton enters into $550M sales agreement with KPS Capital, files Chapter 11 reorganization". The Business Journals. July 20, 2020.
  26. ^ "New ownership, new name – aluminium rolling and recycling by Speira". Aluminium International Today. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  27. ^ "Handelsblatt".
edit