TransDigm Group Inc. has agreed to buy Goodrich Pump & Engine Control Systems from United Technologies Corporation for a reported $236 million, in cash. The final sale is subject to regulatory clearance and other closing conditions, but the buyer indicated it plans to seal the acquisition by early 2013, or sooner.
Cleveland-based TransDigm Group is a holding company for a wide range of wholly owned subsidiaries that produce engineered aircraft components. TransDigm portfolio products are in place on most commercial and military aircraft now in service. Its major product offerings include mechanical/electro-mechanical actuators and controls, ignition systems and engine technology, specialized pumps and valves, power conditioning devices, specialized AC/DC electric motors and generators, NiCad batteries and chargers, engineered latching and locking devices, rods and locking devices, engineered connectors and elastomers, cockpit security components and systems, specialized cockpit displays, aircraft audio systems, specialized lavatory components, seatbelts and safety restraints, engineered interior surfaces and lighting and control technology.
GPECS designs and manufactures highly engineered electronic engine controls, fuel metering units, and main fuel pumps, mostly for military aircraft though TransDigm estimated about 40% of its revenues in 2012 came from the commercial aircraft market.
"GPECS is a long-established proprietary business with significant aftermarket content and an outstanding reputation,” explained W. Nicholas Howley, TransDigm chairman and CEO. “The highly engineered products are both a good fit with our overall strategy and also allow us to expand our content on a number of substantial engine applications. As with all TransDigm acquisitions, we see opportunities for significant value creation."
Headquartered in West Hartford, CT, GPECS employs about 500.
This is the third significant acquisition for TransDigm this year. In September it paid $35 million in cash to buy Aero-Instruments Co. LLC, a producer of air data sensors, including pitot probes, pitot-static probes, static pressure ports, angle of attack, temperature sensors and flight test equipment for use primarily in the business jet and helicopter markets.
Earlier, TransDigm acquired AmSafe Global Holdings Inc, a producer of passenger seatbelts and airbags. It paid $750 million in cash to Berkshire Partners LLC and Greenbriar Equity Group LLC.
United Technologies closed its $16.5-billion takeover of Goodrich Corp. last July, and set about merging it with its own Sundstrand business to form a new entity, UTC Aerospace Systems. Various elements of the Goodrich portfolio have been on the block, as United Technologies hopes to raise about $3 billion capital to defray the cost of the acquisition.
