B12 Capital Partners buys Lenexa plant as foundation of new holding company

A longtime Lenexa plant that produces wire harnesses and other systems for aerospace and other industries has sold and become part of a new corporate family organized by local private equity firm B12 Capital Partners.

Sonaca sold its plant at 9910 Widmer Road in Lenexa to WGV Electrical Systems Holdco Inc. Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the operation now operates at GML Industries Midwest, and has retained the plant’s 24 employees. Shawnee-based B12 led the formation of WGV Electrical Systems as a holding
company for GML Industries Midwest, Ohio-based WRWP LLC and Florida-based GML Industries, Greg Gaeddert, a managing partner of B12, said in an email interview with the Kansas City Business Journal.

Gaeddert said the strategy of grouping the companies is to better serve Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the U.S. with regional operations to improve support and cut shipping time and costs. The move is meant to take advantage of the Trump administration’s push for onshoring of manufacturing and supply chains, he said.

“Having the operation in Lenexa gives us the ability to build upon a strong Midwest customer base, with global business needs, by delivering a global set of supply chain solutions underneath the WGV Electrical Systems Holdco structure,” Gaeddert wrote in an email.

B12 is the majority owner of the companies that make up WGV Electrical Systems, with management of those companies retaining stakes in the business and incentives to grow, he said.

Led by managing partners Gaeddert and Michael Wedel, B12 ranks No. 18 on KCBJ’s list of the area’s largest venture capital and private equity companies, based on $40 million in capital under management locally.

The firm focuses on investments in manufacturing and distribution companies with $5 million to $50 million in revenue, according to its website.

The Lenexa facility makes wire harnesses, and electromechanical products for aerospace and defense uses, railroad and other transportation signals, vehicles systems and trailers, and more, according to its website. A former owner, Kansas City-based Valent Aerostructures LLC, sold to LMI Aerospace Inc. for $237 million, plus nearly $10 million in retained obligations, in 2012. LMI later was integrated into Belgium-based Sonaca Group.

Article from: Kansas City Business Journal