Compressor maker Sullair bought by private equity firms

Compressor manufacturer Sullair Corporation is being sold by United Technologies Corp (UTC) to private equity firms Carlyle Group and BC Partners.

Michigan City, Ind.-based Sullair is a manufacturer of rotary screw compressors used for desiccant dryers and other applications. The company has subsidiaries in China and Australia.

Washington, DC-based Carlyle Group and London-based BC Partners are also buying two other UTC companies – industrial pump and fluid control specialists Milton Roy Company and Sundyne Corporation – and will run the three as a group, with the possibility of further add-on acquisitions.

The total purchase price for the companies is US$3.46 billion, and the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Sullair, Milton Roy, and Sundyne formed the Industrial division of UTC’s Hamilton Sundstrand business. UTC has now renamed Hamilton Sundstrand’s remaining aerospace business as UTC Aerospace Systems, incorporating the recently acquired Goodrich Corporation business.

“The business is much more valuable as one piece and our view is we’re going to build from the platform,” said Mark Fariborz of BC Partners. UTS reported that the private equity firms may make further acquisitions to add to the three companies.

BC Partners and Carlyle Group have formed a limited partnership and will jointly oversee management of Sullair.