KPS TRANSFORMED UCI INTO A LEADING BUILDING WIRE AND CABLE MANUFACTURER
KPS Capital Partners, LP (“KPS”) announced today that it has sold its portfolio company United Copper Industries, Inc. (“UCI” or the “Company”) to Southwire Company, LLC (“Southwire”). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
UCI is a leading manufacturer and distributor of copper building wire and cable used in the construction of industrial, residential and commercial buildings in the United States and Canada. The Company manufactures all major types of 600-volt building wire and cable, including Thermoplastic High Heat Resistant Nylon (“THHN”) wire, Non-Metallic (“NM-B”) cable, Metal-Clad (“MC”) cable and Bare wire. UCI operates a state-of-the-art, vertically integrated manufacturing facility located in Denton, Texas and employs approximately 300 associates. The Company primarily sells its products through prominent national, regional and local electrical distributors across the country.
In 2011, KPS created UCI to acquire the United States wire and cable assets of Organizacion IUSA, S.A. de C.V. Under KPS’ ownership, UCI transitioned to an independent company and successfully achieved a highly ambitious turnaround that established the Company as a leading North American building wire and cable manufacturer. Key elements of UCI’s transformation included retaining a new management team and creating a new organizational structure, investing a substantial amount of capital to modernize UCI’s equipment, materially improving its operating cash cost structure, labor productivity and plant efficiency, and implementing a new strategic, service-oriented approach to customers and the market that led to volume increases well in excess of overall market growth.
David Shapiro, a Managing Partner of KPS, said, “We are very proud of UCI’s transformation under our ownership. In 2011, we acquired an undermanaged and underutilized satellite U.S. production facility that operated as a highly transactional market participant. We transformed the Company into a consistently profitable, rapidly growing North American building wire and cable manufacturer that is a true partner to its national and regional customer base of electrical distributors. KPS worked with management to improve every aspect of UCI, resulting in industry-leading service, quality and manufacturing efficiency. We take immense pride in what UCI has accomplished. The success of our investment in UCI demonstrates KPS’ ability to see value where others do not, to buy right and to make businesses better.
“We thank and congratulate Jeff Hykin, UCI’s Chief Executive Officer, his management team and all the dedicated employees of UCI for their vision, passion and flawless execution in an extremely ambitious undertaking. The material value created for our investors is the result of their collective effort, for which we are very grateful. The sale of UCI to Southwire, North America’s leading manufacturer of wire and cable used in the distribution and transmission of electricity, is a great outcome for our investors, UCI’s employees and its customers. We are confident that UCI will become a key piece of Southwire’s building wire and cable portfolio, and continue to grow and prosper in the future as part of their organization,” Mr. Shapiro concluded.
Jeff Hykin, Chief Executive Officer of UCI, added, “Working in partnership with KPS, the UCI team implemented a turnaround plan that materially improved the productivity and efficiency of our plant while improving quality and service. These changes formed the foundation for UCI’s significant growth over the past three years. We are grateful to KPS for providing our team with the leadership, expertise, capital and other resources that were essential to our success. The UCI team looks forward to a seamless transition to Southwire ownership for our customers and employees.”
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal counsel to KPS and UCI with respect to the transaction.
About United Copper Industries, Inc.
UCI is a leading manufacturer and distributor of building wire and cable used in the construction of industrial, residential and commercial buildings in the United States and Canada. The Company manufactures all major types of 600-volt building wire and cable, including Thermoplastic High Heat Resistant Nylon (“THHN”) wire, Non-Metallic (“NM-B”) cable, Metal-Clad (“MC”) cable and Bare wire. UCI operates a state-of-the-art, vertically integrated manufacturing facility located in Denton, Texas, and employs approximately 300 associates. The Company primarily sells its products through prominent national, regional and local electrical distributors across the country. Additional information regarding UCI and its products can be found at www.unitedcopper.com.
About Southwire Company, LLC
A leader in technology and innovation, Southwire Company, LLC, is one of North America’s largest wire and cable producers. Southwire and its subsidiaries manufacture building wire and cable, metal-clad cable, portable and electronic cord products, utility products, OEM wire products and engineered products. In addition, Southwire supplies assembled products, contractor equipment and hand tools. For more on Southwire’s products, its community involvement and its vision of sustainability, visit www.southwire.com.
About KPS Capital Partners
KPS, through its affiliated management entities, is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of investment funds with approximately $21.4 billion of assets under management (as of December 31, 2023). For over three decades, the Partners of KPS have worked exclusively to realize significant capital appreciation by making controlling equity investments in manufacturing and industrial companies across a diverse array of industries, including basic materials, branded consumer, healthcare and luxury products, automotive parts, capital equipment and general manufacturing. KPS creates value for its investors by working constructively with talented management teams to make businesses better, and generates investment returns by structurally improving the strategic position, competitiveness and profitability of its portfolio companies, rather than primarily relying on financial leverage. The KPS Funds’ portfolio companies generate aggregate annual revenues of approximately $20.3 billion, operate 222 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries, and have approximately 48,000 employees, directly and through joint ventures worldwide (as of December 31, 2023). The KPS investment strategy and portfolio companies are described in detail at www.kpsfund.com.
