Marathon Asset acquires CONTECH from SPX Corp.

Marathon Asset Management LLC on March 7 announced that the Marathon Automotive Group has entered into an agreement to acquire CONTECH from SPX Corporation. CONTECH is a premier supplier of highly engineered, geometrically complex, lightweight cast component solutions for the automotive and truck markets. Marathon is planning to provide the funding for the acquisition.

CONTECH is the most meaningful acquisition to date for the Marathon Automotive Group, which has been formed by Marathon to make acquisitions of suppliers in the automotive and truck industries. The Marathon Automotive Group is led by Morris C. Rowlett, chairman and chief executive officer; Robert E. Eckert, executive vice president of finance; and Mark R. Krupp, executive vice president of operations. The group's senior executive team will partner with CONTECH's experienced management team, led by Mark Hunter, president of CONTECH, to build on the company's leadership position and the existing talent and resources to further grow the business.

"The acquisition of CONTECH represents an important step for Marathon's private equity automotive strategy," said Wray Thorn, managing director of Marathon's Private Equity group. "CONTECH is a leader in the automotive supply industry, with a strong product portfolio, stellar management team and employee base, and a superior platform on which to build for future growth. Through the Marathon Automotive Group, we plan to support CONTECH's ongoing growth opportunities and to complete a number of additional acquisition opportunities to build a meaningful supplier in the automotive sector with the capital support to grow at a time when many companies in the sector are lacking access to capital. We look forward to working with the senior leadership team of the Marathon Automotive Group as well as Mark Hunter and CONTECH's senior management team to build upon the company's historical success and expand upon their current leadership position."

Rowlett, Eckert and Krupp, the senior leadership team of the Marathon Automotive Group, have more than 70 years of combined business knowledge and executive leadership in areas of finance, operations and mergers and acquisitions in the automotive industry, in both large and small companies. In addition to their significant senior management expertise, Rowlett, Eckert and Krupp have successfully led and completed numerous acquisitions of automotive suppliers while working with other investment firms, including Ganton Technologies, Diversified Diemakers, Pilot Industries, Guilford Mills and GDX Automotive.

CONTECH is a leading light metals die casting and machining company that develops proprietary and innovative metal-forming process technologies, enabling it to offer its automotive industry customers advanced product solutions with a superior value proposition. The company has one of the widest ranges of die cast process technologies in the industry, and its unique technologies and capabilities, coupled with a value selling approach, have enabled CONTECH to reach its position as a leader in its industry. In addition to its leadership position in complex, lightweight cast products, CONTECH manufactures steel-forged automotive components and has begun to use its steel tube fabrication capabilities to penetrate new, high-growth niche applications in the heavy and medium duty truck markets.

"We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Marathon and be a meaningful part of the Marathon Automotive Group going forward," said Hunter. "Marathon brings us the financial support that will enable us to expand our business by leveraging the outstanding capabilities of our people, our technologies and our manufacturing and quality systems. We have built a substantial business platform at CONTECH, and as an anchor of the Marathon Automotive Group, we look forward to taking our platform to an entirely new level."

"The Marathon Automotive Group is excited about the opportunity to acquire CONTECH from SPX and to work with Mark Hunter and CONTECH's experienced senior management team," said Rowlett. "CONTECH has long-standing customer and supplier relationships and a tradition of technological and product leadership that we are eager to build on in the future. With Marathon's ongoing capital investment, we're looking forward to helping CONTECH achieve its growth objectives and making other acquisitions to continue to build a premier supplier for the automotive and truck markets."

The transaction is expected to close within the next 45 days subject to receipt of customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals.