Middle marker private equity firm Wynnchurch Capital has sold Wolverine Advanced Materials to ITT Corporation for approximately USD300 million. Wynnchurch generated a return of approximately 4.0x multiple of invested capital on its investment in Wolverine.
Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, Wolverine is a global leader in developing and manufacturing proprietary products for automotive braking systems and highly engineered sealing solutions for harsh operating environments across a range of industries. Over the past 80 years, Wolverine has built a reputation for quality, innovation and thought leadership in material sciences. Through customer-focused innovation, Wolverine developed the largest portfolio of specialty elastomer material constructions in its end markets. Wolverine serves a diverse group of customers, including many of the most well-known, blue chip OEMs across North America, Europe and Asia.
Terry Theodore (pictured), Partner at Wynnchurch, says: "Wolverine represented an opportunity to reinvigorate a company with great DNA, differentiated products and leading market share. By recruiting fresh leadership and working with the management team to drive operational improvement, bolster the sales and go-to-market strategy, invest in engineering and product development and execute a strategic add-on acquisition, Wynnchurch and the management team were able to significantly grow Wolverine's earnings and accelerate its topline growth."
Brian Crumbaugh, Managing Director at Wynnchurch, adds: "Wolverine is a great business and we are proud of the growth and accomplishments that the management team, in close collaboration with Wynnchurch, were able to achieve during our ownership period."
Wynnchurch acquired Wolverine in December 2010 through a corporate carve-out from EP Management Corporation.
