Building a leader in mission-critical, niche engineered components
Meet Our Team
Our team has experience running both private and public companies, with a particular focus on highly-engineered products and components.
Max Katzenstein
CEO
Founder of Kaho Partners and a serial entrepreneur with extensive expertise building and operating niche engineered products businesses. Most recently, Max has served as the founder and Executive Chairman of Addtronics, a consolidator of mission-critical, niche engineered products serving the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.
Nick Howley
Co-Chairman
Founder and Chairman of TransDigm Group (NYSE: TDG), a $100 billion company focusing on highly engineered aerospace components, systems, and subsystems. Nick founded TransDigm in 1993 and has grown the business from $60mm in revenue to almost $8 billion of revenue. Nick is also the Co-Chairman of Perimeter Solutions (NYSE: PRM), which manufactures and supplies firefighting products and lubricant additives.
Will Thorndike
Co-Chairman
Founder of Housatonic Partners, a $1.5bn private equity firm, and author of The Outsiders. Will founded Housatonic Partners in 1994 and has invested in and acquired dozens of small and mid-sized companies in many different industries. Will is also the Co-Chairman of Perimeter Solutions (NYSE: PRM), which manufactures and supplies firefighting products and lubricant additives.
Bob Henderson
Director
Vice Chairman of TransDigm since 2017. Bob also served as the COO of TransDigm’s Airframe Segment from 2014 to 2016 and as Executive Vice President from 2005 to 2014. From 1999 to 2008 he also served as President of AdelWiggins Group, a division of TransDigm. Mr. Henderson has significant experience integrating acquisitions and leading multiple operating units concurrently.
Acquisition Criteria
We are focused on acquiring $1-5mm EBITDA manufacturers of engineered components that have recurring revenue characteristics and pricing power.
Critical, but Small
Critical to the customer, but represents a small percentage of the customer’s total bill of materials. Smaller dollar value in relation to the overall system.
Highly Engineered
Highly engineered and designed for purpose. Narrowly focused and specialized, and typically produced in smaller volumes or quantities.
Recurring
Recurring sale with aftermarket content. Longer product lifecycles. 90%+ gross customer retention.
Specified
Regulatory specifications and validation. Specified onto OEM programs with secular growth dynamics.
Financial Characterstics
$1-5mm
EBITDA
>50%
Gross Margins
>0%
Revenue Growth
<3%
Capex % of Sales
Our Culture
We are a decentralized, high-performance organization.
01
Decentralized
We drive authority & decision-making to our operating companies.
02
Value-Obsessed
We insist on high expectations & we focus intensely on the factors that drive equity value.
03
Accountable
We hold our operating company leaders accountable for performance.
04
Frugal
We are lean & scrappy. Our leadership sets the example for frugality.