Bison Capital and Angeles Equity Partners Acquire Precision Surfacing Solutions
Summary
Going forward, PSS will operate as two autonomous businesses units with separate leadership teams: • The Flat Finishing Group (“FFG”) will operate under the Lapmaster and Peter Wolters brands and manufacture the AC line of polishing machines, which deliver finishes with exceptional flatness for silicon and silicon carbide wafers used in semiconductors, photovoltaic cells, and electric vehicles; and • The Surface Profile Group (“SPG”) will operate under the Kehren, ELB, Micron, Aba, REFORM, ISOG, Micron, Barnes, and Bates brands and manufacture high-precision equipment for finishes on metal surfaces and profiles for the aerospace, defense, automotive, wind energy and general industry sectors. In addition to Bison Capital and Angeles, the institutional investor group supporting PSS includes Churchill Asset Management (a Nuveen affiliate), General Electric Pension Trust, AIG, SSM Health, and Franklin Park. We believe companies with leading technological capabilities like PSS will be well-positioned to benefit from macroeconomic tailwinds in demand for electronics and sectoral shifts toward clean/renewable energy sources.” “Our investment in PSS represents an opportunity to partner with Bison and Brian Nelson to drive the next stage of growth for a company with a portfolio of long-established brands,” said Martin Mumford and Frank Spelman, Operating Partner and Managing Director at Angeles, respectively. “We believe that PSS is well-placed to support the expansion of semiconductor manufacturing globally and to benefit from industrial reshoring as a result of global supply chain disruption.” Bison and Angeles’s investment in PSS is the result of a proactive thematic focus on differentiated providers in the semiconductor and industrial technology supply chains. The Angeles skill set drives the firm’s investment philosophy and, in its view, can help businesses reach their full potential.