User:Toa Nidhiki05 (Work)/AIP

American Industrial Partners (AIP) is an American private equity firm that invests in manufacturing companies based in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in New York City, the firm founded in 1988 by several CEOs who resigned following the takeovers of their companies. AIP has performed over 90 transactions and manages around US$7 billion in assets as of 2019. Its current subsidiaries include speciality vehicle manufacturer REV Group, LED lighting manufacturer GE Current, and automatic cutting machine manufacturer Gerber Technology.

History and acquisitions
American Industrial Partners was founded in 1988; according to Indianapolis News, the partnership primary consisted of CEOs who resigned following the takeovers of their companies. The partnership focused on investing in manufacturing companies; it eschewed some tactics of contemporary investment firms, like "run-and-gun buyouts", in favor of more "traditional" investment strategies. Rather than perform leveraged buyouts, AIP focused on improving the profitability of acquired companies. After acquiring companies, American Industrial Partners would focus on "cutting debt and improving operations" while adopting a "hands-off management style" that typically retained previous leadership. AIP purchases were financed 55% with debt, a margin below the typical 65% to 70% that other firms had. Ian Johnson of the Baltimore Sun attributed this conservative financial strategy to AIP's partners, mostly CEOs who had been unseated from their previous companies through hostile takeovers financed by debt.

AIP focused on raising a US$400 million private equity fund that would be used to invest in American manufacturing companies. By June 1993 the firm included the former CEOs of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Mead Corporation, and the Stanley Works and had purchased five companies with a collective annual revenue of US$500 million.

In 1993, AIP purchased the Sweetheart Holdings, Inc., then the largest producer of disposable cups, plates, and straws, in the United States; the firm paid US$445.6 million to acquire the company. Sweetheart had a negative net worth of US$121.9 million at the time, but after being acquired by AIP the company returned the company to profitability and increased its net worth to US$100 million. By May 1995, however, the company reported a small loss due to rising manufacturing costs. Sweetheart merged with the Fonda Group in January 1998; although AIP retained a majority of shares, Fonda Group took over control of management. Sweetheart was sold to the Solo Cup Company in December 2003. By 2004, American Industrial Partners had raised over US$1 billion in equity. AIP closed their fourth fund, valued at US$405 million, in August 2008. A fifth fund closed at US$717.5 million in December 2011.

In August 2010, American Industrial Partners merged Collins Industries, E-One, Halcore Group, and Fleetwood Enterprises, four companies it had acquired from 2007 to 2010, into a new company called Allied Specialty Vehicles. The company was rebranded to REV Group in November 2015 and was taken public in January 2017 with an IPO of US$275 million. AIP consolidated Heil Trailer, Kalyn Siebert, and SERVA into the holding company EnTrans International in 2014. In June 2015, AIP acquired Anixter's fastener business for US$380 million and rebranded it as Optimas OE Solutions.

AIP's sixth investment fund closed in September 2015 at US$1.7 billion. AIP purchased Canam Group, a Canadian steel manufacturer, for an estimated CA$875 million in 2017. Canam was sold to the Dutil family, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and the Fonds de solidarité FTQ in 2020 for an estimated CA$840 million, although AIP retained joint control of Canam's American subsidiaries with the two Canadian companies. In November 2018, General Electric (GE) sold GE Current, a manufacturer of LED lighting, to AIP for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, the brand retained the GE branding. AIP's seventh fund closed in April 2019 at a value of US$3 billion, its largest sum to date.

Operations
American Industrial Partners is headquartered at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York City. Its senior managing partners are John Becker, Dino Cusumano, and Kim Marvin. 27 other partners are involved in the firm, including COO Stan Edme, CFO Stephen Bordes, and general counsel Nikhil Bodade.

In determining which companies to invest in, American Industrial Partners looks for "manufacturing or industrial businesses with B2B sales, $200M+ revenue, global scope with significant US or Canadian operations, and enterprise value of up to $1.5B". Its strategies include leveraged buyouts, turnaround management, and rescue financing. AIP has completed over 90 transactions as of April 2019 and manages around US$7 billion in assets.