ACQUISITION: Precision Castparts Adds Cherry Aerospace to Growing Fastener Portfolio

Jason Sandefur

Precision Castparts Corp. has agreed to acquire Cherry Aerospace LLC from Acument Global Technologies Inc. for $300 million.\
Acument is the former Textron Fastening Systems, which Platinum Equity acquired in August 2006 for $630 million.
Founded in 1939 Cherry manufactures aerospace rivets and blind bolts. Cherry’s products are primarily used in structural applications in the wings, fuselage and engines of commercial and military aircraft. Cherry employs 500 people at its facility in Santa Ana, CA.
Portland, OR-based Precision Castparts traditionally has been best known for manufacturing jet and gas turbine engine parts. PCC entered the aerospace and automotive fastener business with the acquisition of SPS Technologies Inc. in 2003. PCC acquired two California fastener manufacturers, Shur-Lok Group and Air Industries Corp., in 2005.
“Cherry has been one of our top ‘tuck-in’ targets since our acquisition of SPS Technologies,” Precision Castparts CEO Mark Donegan explained. “As with Air Industries and Shur-Lok, Cherry will fill a significant gap in SPS’s product line of critical aerospace fasteners.”
Cherry rivets and bolts are frequently specified by brand name on customers’ blueprints, Donegan pointed out.
“This acquisition continues to grow our presence in Southern California, opening up potential synergies and economies of scale with our other fastener operations,” Donegan added. PCC’s Air Industries plant is in Garden Grove and the SPS facility is in Santa Ana. Web: precast.com
Acument interim CEO Joseph Gray commented that Cherry “complements the aerospace product portfolio of Precision Castparts, which can apply appropriate resources to support the business and its well-known Cherry brand products and technology on a global basis.”
Troy, MI-based Acument provides engineered fastening systems, installation technology and engineering services. Acument has 9,000 employees in 16 countries supplying customers in 150 countries. Web: Acument.com
PCC is financing the all cash acquisition with cash on hand and existing credit. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals.
Investors showed enthusiasm for PCC’s Cherry acquisition the day it was announced by driving up the stock price 2% to a record close of $82.90.
Providence, RI-based Textron Inc. sold Textron Fastening Systems Inc. to Platinum Equity. It was the first fastener acquisition for Beverly Hills, CA-based Platinum, a mergers & acquisitions & operations firm that owns 19 portfolio companies with consolidated revenue of $13.5 billion. Platinum was listed #18 on the 2005 Forbes Largest Private Companies list. Web: platinumequity.com �2007 FastenerNews.com