SCAT Enterprises, LLC (“SCAT”) has announced it has been acquired by Taglich Private Equity, LLC (“TPE”), who recently acquired Air Flow Research Heads, Inc., a manufacturer of cylinder heads and intake manifolds for the high-performance automotive aftermarket.
For over 50 years, SCAT has been a manufacturer of high-performance crankshafts, connecting rods and rotating assemblies used in the performance automotive aftermarket. The transaction includes the Procar by SCAT seating division. SCAT’s management team will remain in place along with SCAT’s production facility and employees, located at its headquarters in Redondo Beach, CA.
SCAT was founded in 1964 by Tom Lieb, and for over 50 years has brought a long history of innovation to the automotive aftermarket. Today, SCAT provides one of the broadest selections of high quality and high-performance crankshafts, connecting rods and rotating assemblies in the industry. Procar makes a wide range of high-quality seats and seat brackets used in the hot rod, muscle car and street racing segments.
Tom Lieb will remain involved in the business going forward and SCAT’s current COO, Craig Schenasi, will become CFO of the combined companies and an owner in the business. SCAT has held a dominant position in the performance automotive aftermarket since its inception, and Tom’s knowledge of crankshafts, connecting rods and engine components has made him an industry icon. The company’s commitment to excellence has earned its products a place within the fastest race cars and with the best engine builders in the country.
“Completing this sale doesn’t represent the end, but merely another step in SCAT’s long and successful history,” says Tom Lieb. “We are excited about partnering with AFR and continuing to build on the foundation that we have built over the years.”
Shawn Sterling, who will be the CEO of AFR and SCAT stated, “SCAT has a fantastic brand, strong team and an impressive legacy, which we are fortunate to add to our company. I am thrilled about the opportunity to work with and learn from Tom, Craig, and the rest of the team at SCAT. We believe that the AFR, SCAT and Procar brands will create a lot of synergies for our customers while providing tremendous growth opportunities for our employees. We will focus on our customers and employee’s success, as we believe this is the key to our future growth, both organically and through acquisitions of other performance aftermarket companies.”
Will Morris, managing director of Taglich Private Equity, stated, “We are very excited about the SCAT acquisition and honored to partner with Tom Lieb and the team at SCAT who have built an amazing business over the past 50 years. We continue to be very interested in exploring additional add-on acquisition opportunities in the high-performance automotive aftermarket to accelerate growth and build upon our product offerings.”
Financing for the transaction was arranged by Taglich Private Equity with equity provided by Taglich and Farragut Capital Partners, who also provided subordinated debt. Byline Bank provided the senior debt financing. The Spartan Group acted as exclusive financial advisor to SCAT. Dentons Durham Jones Pinegar acted as legal advisor and Moss Adams acted as due diligence advisor to Taglich.