Carlyle sells Diversified Machine to Platinum Equity after growing revenue 4.5x & quadrupling workforce
Carlyle Sells Diversified Machine to Platinum Equity
By Michael J. De La Merced
New York Times – DealBook
December 16, 2011
The Carlyle Group announced on Friday that it had sold Diversified Machine, a maker of car parts, to Platinum Equity after a six-year effort to expand the business.
Terms of the transaction, which closed earlier this month, were not disclosed. News reports from the summer said that Carlyle had initially sought more than $400 million for the business, which makes powertrain and chassis parts.
For Carlyle, building out Diversified Machine was a slow-but-steady effort, beginning with the purchase of assets from a bankrupt UniBoring in November 2005. The private equity firm then added additional operations through a series of deals, notably purchases of assets from Hayes Lemmerz and Metaldyne.
Among Carlyle’s chief aims was to expand Diversified Machine’s product line beyond powertrain parts, adding chassis components to the mix. Carlyle also focused on making the company more global, expanding from three factories, largely in the Detroit area, to 10, including three outside North America.
Diversified Machine’s revenue grew about 4.5 times in the six years under Carlyle ownership, according to people familiar with the matter. And the company’s work force more than quadrupled during that time, from about 525 employees to more than 2,200.
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