Pritzker Group will sell Hartford-based Signicast LLC to Dynacast International Inc., a North Carolina based manufacturer of precision metal components.
The companies agreed to a definitive share purchase agreement on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Barclays, and Macquarie Capital have all committed debt financing.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in late March.
Signicast has two campuses in the Milwaukee area including an eight building complex in Hartford and another facility in Brown Deer. The facilities cover 800,000 square feet and employ more than 800 people.
The company is a highly automated and vertically integrated manufacturer of precision investment cast parts. Dynacast plans to keep Signicast as a separate operating division and plans to globalize it in the coming years.
“Given Signicast’s complementary manufacturing technology, this acquisition will expand our existing customer offerings and accelerate our strategic vision for growth. I look forward to working closely with the Signicast team to ensure that the combined company continues to provide our customers with unparalleled technology, quality, and service,” said Simon Newman, Dynacast’s chairman and chief executive officer.
Signicast was acquired by Pritzker Group, a Chicago and Los Angeles based private investment firm, in 2008. Dynacast was acquired by Switzerland-based Partners Group in early 2015.
The acquisition will expand Dynacast to more than 9,500 employees in 27 locations, including a 24,000-square-foot tooling center in Germantown. The company also has a facility in Elgin, Illinois that specializes in high-volume, high-speed tapping. It also is part of a strategic plan that will move the company toward becoming a $1 billion-plus organization over the next two to three years.
