AIP Closes Fund V At $700 Million

Firm: American Industrial Partners

Fund: American Industrial Partners V LP

Target: $700 million (hard cap)

Placement Agent: MVision

American Industrial Partners has closed its fifth buyout fund, at its hard cap of $700 million, $200 million ahead of target, as two sources told Buyouts in advance of the announcement.

The fundraise is impressive considering, according to the sources, that it only took American Industrial about three months to raise the fund. The size of American Industrial Partners V LP would also mark a hefty increase from that of the firm’s fourth buyout fund, which closed with around $405 million in commitments in August 2008.

MVision, a placement agency with offices in London and New York, helped the firm raise the fund.

“We are proud of and grateful for the close partnership AIP enjoys with its investors, portfolio company managers, and lenders and we are extremely pleased with the high caliber new US and international investors who have joined the partnership” Kim Marvin, a managing prtner at AIP, said in a press release. “Our AIP team is heavily weighted toward engineers and operators focused on supporting transformative operating improvements at industrial companies. In the current macroeconomic environment we are seeing many unique investment opportunities that benefit from a combination of operational expertise coupled with the intelligent deployment of new capital.”

In October, the New Jersey State Investment Council approved a $100 million commitment to the fund, according to Money Management Letter. Previous backers of American Industrial Partners funds have included AXA Private Equity, Grove Street Advisors, and the Orange County Employees Retirement System, according to the Dow Jones Directory of Alternative Investment Programs.

American Industrial Partners typically invests $10 million to $70 million of equity in companies in the manufacturing and industrial service sectors generating EBITDA of $10 million to $70 million.

The firm has made at least two platform acquisitions this year, according to Capital IQ. Back in August, it completed its acquisition of Northwest Hardwoods Inc., a Tacoma, Wash.-based manufacturer of kiln-dried hardwood lumber furniture for the furniture, cabinet and millwork industries. The seller was Weyerhaeuser Co., the price approximately $110 million. And earlier this month, American Industrial agreed to buy Kalyn Siebert LP, a Gatesville, Texas-based manufacturer of specialty truck trailers.

The firm’s portfolio also includes Allied Specialty Vehicles Inc., a manufacturer of recreational and commercial vehicles, as well as vehicles for fire and emergency uses; Mark Andy Inc., a maker of equipment used in the label and packaging markets; and Micro-Poise Measurement Systems LLC, a provider of measurement and inspection systems for the tire industry.