NEW YORK, March 14, 2007 - Castle Harlan, Inc., the New York-based private equity investment firm, announced today it and members of management have sold the Gravograph-Technifor Group, the world leader in the manufacture of permanent marking machines, devices, accessories and related consumables, to LBO France, one of the leading private equity firms in Paris. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Gravograph-Technifor Group includes Gravograph Industrie International, the world leader in machines, accessories and materials used in the engraving industry; and Technifor S.A., a global leader in marking devices for permanent product identification in a variety of industrial applications. Castle Harlan acquired Gravograph in 2000 and Technifor in 2003.
Gravograph has major facilities in Atlanta in the U.S. and in Troyes, France, and markets its products worldwide under the Gravograph and New Hermes brand names. The U.S. is Gravograph's largest market.
Technifor, which sells its marker products worldwide, is based in Miribel, France, near Lyons. Technifor serves the global automotive industry, major aerospace companies, including Boeing and Airbus, and the medical industry.
The group is active in 50 countries worldwide.
Marcel Fournier, a senior managing director at Castle Harlan and a member of Gravograph's board of directors, said the company has excellent opportunities for continued growth.
"Gravograph-Technifor has evolved very well while we have owned it," Fournier said, "to provide a broad range of marking solutions for its customers.
"Under our ownership the company confirmed its global leadership position. We encouraged product development and innovation and introduced a number of new products, including a very successful line of laser machines as well as a series of other products that will come to market over the next two years.
"In addition we encouraged the company to successfully establish manufacturing in China and begin developing a customer base in this new market. China should represent significant potential over the next few years. We turn over to LBO France a strong and dynamic group."
Castle Harlan, founded in 1987, invests in controlling interests in the buyout and development of middle-market companies in North America and Europe. Its team of 20 investment professionals has completed 48 acquisitions since its inception with a total value in excess of $9 billion. The firm traces its roots to the start of the institutionalized private-equity business in the late 1960s.
Castle Harlan's current portfolio companies, which employ more than 42,000 people, include Ames True Temper, a leading manufacturer of lawn and garden tools and accessories; RathGibson, a leader in the manufacture of stainless steel and high alloy precision-welded tubing; Baker & Taylor, the leading global distributor of books and entertainment products to libraries and retailers, and Perkins & Marie Callender's, Inc., which operates and franchises 618 family restaurants in the United States and Canada.