Aircraft Parts Firm in Orange Acquired by Vestar Branch

An aerospace company controlled by New York-based investment firm Vestar Capital Partners Inc. said Tuesday that it paid $30 million for two aerospace companies, including Quality Aluminum Forge in Orange.

International AirParts Corp., a newly formed Vestar subsidiary, acquired Mamco Manufacturing Inc., a machine shop and assembler of metal components in Seattle, which has 200 employees.

And in a transaction between two Vestar-controlled companies, International AirParts also acquired Quality Aluminum Forge, a 206-employee company that forges aircraft parts.

International AirParts will operate the companies as part of its Mamco/QAF Manufacturing Inc. subsidiary. No layoffs are expected as a result of the acquisitions.

The combined Mamco/QAF will operate more efficiently, because it can combine functions by forging metal materials; machining them into specific parts, such as wings and fuselages, and assembling them into finished products, said Richard Robinson, president of International AirParts.

Quality Aluminum Forge was previously a division of MAG Aerospace Industries Inc., an aircraft components company that was acquired in a $90-million Vestar deal in 1989.

Now International AirParts has acquired the unit from Vestar.

“We’re moving QAF from the control of one of our companies to another and combining it with the Mamco unit, because the businesses are similar,� said Norman W. Alpert, chairman of International AirParts Corp.

Alpert said Vestar’s strategy is to invest in the commercial aerospace business rather than military aerospace firms. The commercial market is expanding and is not dependent on the declining defense budget, he said.

A private investment firm that specializes in management buyouts, Vestar has acquired nine companies for $1 billion since it was formed in 1988. Some of its subsidiaries include Super D Drugs, Celestial Seasonings and Westinghouse Air Brake Co.

After its latest aerospace purchase, Vestar has invested $310 million in its major aerospace acquisitions, Alpert said.

Vestar bought Los Angeles-based Monogram Aerospace Group from Rhode Island-based Nortek Inc. in 1989 for $90 million. In January, Vestar led a management buyout of Ohio-based Argo-Tech Corp. for $190 million.

Alpert said the divisions will continue to operate independently, with the same management teams.