Air Industries Group, a manufacturer of aerospace components and aerostructures, has agreements to acquire a series of smaller manufacturers it said will complement its current subsidiary operations.
The Long Island-based organization consists of several operating divisions, which produce landing gear, arresting gear, engine mounts, and flight controls systems supplied to commercial and defense aerospace prime contractors. Among its customers it lists Boeing, LMI Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Sikorsky, and others.
Last year Air Industries explained it is pursuing an “aerospace consolidation strategy” aimed at combining small aerospace companies to share resources, create centers of excellence, and improves technical capabilities. It has said this approach will provide competitive advantages for such operations within the broader aerospace industry.
Among Air lndustries’ purchases in the past year were Decimal Industries and Miller Stuart, both aircraft welding and fabricating operations.
The new acquisition is another Long Island company, Woodbine Products Inc., which specializes in producing welded and brazed chassis structures housing electronics that it supplies to aircraft component suppliers. Air Industries stated Woodbine's products and customers are “very complementary to those of Decimal Industries,” which it acquired last summer.
Woodbine will become part of Air Industries' Welding Metallurgy Inc. subsidiary. Welding Metallurgy designs and manufactures aerostructures, including inlet housings, external beams for the Black Hawk helicopter, fuel and oil tanks, and environmental and exhaust tubing. It also produces a variety of aircraft ground-support equipment.
"The acquisition of Woodbine Products ,with its sterling reputation for quality and performance further enhances our subsidiary, Welding Metallurgy,” according to CEO Peter Rettaliata. “Woodbine's products are similar to those of Decimal Industries and this acquisition expands our product line. There is some customer overlap, deepening our presence with these customers and some new customers with whom we can expand our business.”
Woodbine’s two principal owners will remain with the organization to oversee the transition, and the current factory in Deer Park, N.Y., will be leased through the end of 2014. At that time, the operation will be consolidated with the Welding Metallurgy operation in Hauppauge, N.Y.
"This acquisition and the two others on which we have reached tentative agreements reflect our strategy of growth through acquisition,” the CEO continued, “capitalizing on the increased pressure to consolidate to respond to the reality of reduced military spending.”
The other purchase are pending, and details are spare. One company is a sheet metal forming and fabricating operation in the Southwestern U.S., a supplier of fabrications to Welding Metallurgy, and to other major aerospace companies. Its capabilities include hammer press forming and hydroforming.
Another target is a New England logistics company that “aggregates products and assembles kits of equipment” for U.S. military and government aircraft programs.
No acquisition terms were offered for any of the companies.
"If we are successful in completing these two additional acquisitions, and there can be no assurance that we will be successful, our projected pro forma EBITDA for 2014 should be approximately $ 10 million," Rettaliata stated.
