The Global Mid-Market Specialist
Boston – Alantra, a leading global investment bank and asset management firm, is pleased to announce its client, Doncasters Ltd, a leading international manufacturing group, has sold its UK aerospace forming and fabricating business to Radius Aerospace, Inc., a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners. Radius is a leading provider of fabrications and other vertically integrated products and solutions primarily to OEM and Tier 1 Aerospace & Defense customers.
Based across two sites in Sheffield and Shrewsbury in the United Kingdom, with 400 skilled workers, Doncasters’ UK aerospace forming and fabricating business designs and manufactures exhaust and nacelle components as well as airfoils for aircraft engines, serving large blue-chip engine manufacturers such as Safran, Rolls Royce, GE, and Pratt & Whitney. Radius Aerospace was attracted to the business’ MRO and OE content on next generation engine platforms; its breadth of manufacturing processes including but not limited to forming, machining and coating; and its IP.
The UK forming & fabrications business will be renamed Radius Aerospace UK Ltd (“Radius Europe”). The existing management team led by Kevan Donohoe, Executive Vice President, will run Radius Europe. Mr. Donohoe said in a company statement, “We are excited to partner with veteran aerospace leaders like Tony (Johnson, CEO of Radius Aerospace) and Arlington Capital for the next stage of our Company’s growth. The independent aerospace forming and fabrications pure play and the commitment of capital to the business will allow us to better serve our customers.”
The Alantra team advising Doncasters consisted of Wade Aust (Managing Director & Partner, Boston), David Waldstein (Director, Boston), and Jackson Rimpas (Associate, New York) all with Alantra US, and Richard Benyahia (Vice President) and Oliver Hickley (Associate), who are based in Alantra’s Birmingham, UK office.
“We are thrilled to assist Doncasters with finding the best partner for its forming and fabrications business,” said Mr. Aust. “With its long history of serving some of the aerospace industry’s most important OEM and Tier 1 suppliers, Radius Europe instantly delivers a strong, international platform for Radius Aerospace. The combined business will capitalize on the synergies between the two, and will provide the customer base with a very high quality level of service which is unmatched in its breadth and depth.”
Mr. Waldstein commented, “The Doncasters forming and fabrications business is unique in the breadth of capabilities it provides. Besides offering its core forming and fabrication processes to OEM customers, it has a robust set of additional capabilities including conventional and non-conventional machining, specialty coatings, special processing electroforming, and testing services, as well as MRO services. Radius, with the support of Arlington Capital, is the right group to leverage this range of offerings.”
Mr. Benyahia added, “This was a complex carve out transaction which our international team managed carefully to ensure value was maximized with minimal execution risk. Alantra is an expert in delivering carve out transactions from large corporations and this deal serves as a great example of that led by a sector-focused, cross-border team.”