Sun Capital Buys Performance Fibers, Plans Expansion In Asia

Sun Capital Buys Performance Fibers,Plans Expansion In Asia
U.S.-based Sun Capital Partners Inc., a private investment firm specializing in leveraged buyouts and turnarounds of companies, has recently completed the purchase of U.S.-based Honeywell International Inc.’s Performance Fibers business unit. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.Performance Fibers, a producer of high-performance industrial fibers, will retain its global leadership team and will continue to operate its plants in the United States and France, and its joint ventures in Korea and China. In addition, according to Greg Rogowski, president and CEO of Performance Fibers, under the new ownership, the company is considering either building a second polyester fiber plant in China or expanding its existing facility in Kaiping, China, to meet continued strong demand. The company has already doubled the capacity at the Kaiping site earlier this year.

A Peformance Fibers lab tecnician works to improve the adhesion of rubber to polyester yarn. The company was recently acquired by Sun Capital Partners.“We are excited about the future of this business and the many growth opportunities we see in the global market for industrial fibers and related technologies,” said Rogowski.“We see many opportunities to rapidly expand our business in China, where we are the leading supplier of highmodulus, low-shrinkage industrial polyester fibers.”
March/April 2005