H.I.G. Capital Announces the Sale of Fibercore
LONDON – February 2, 2017 – H.I.G. Capital, a leading global private equity investment firm with over €20 billion of equity capital under management, announces today that it has sold Fibercore Limited (“Fibercore”) to Humanetics Innovative Solutions, Inc. (“Humanetics”), a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Fibercore, based in the UK, is a world leader in the design and manufacture of specialty optical fiber and offers the industry’s most comprehensive suite of specialty fiber products serving multiple high-growth end-markets, including use in Aerospace & Defence, Oil & Gas, and Biomedical applications. Since its founding over thirty years ago, Fibercore has been universally recognized as the global leader in the specialty optical fiber sector with an unrivalled reputation for quality, innovation and technical support. It works with some of the world’s largest companies assisting in the development of new optical fiber technologies.
Carl Harring, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital commented: “Fibercore has always been an industry leader. It has been a very successful transaction and during our period of ownership, we have enjoyed working with Chris Emslie and his team helping to develop the business in new areas; in many cases pushing the boundaries of optical science via pioneering R&D. Today, Fibercore sits at the heart of the industrial Internet of Things revolution with applications ranging from driverless cars to remote operating robots relying on the company’s leading edge technology. Humanetics is a natural home for the business and we wish the combination every success.”
Chris Emslie, CEO of Fibercore stated: “I would like to thank H.I.G. for their assistance in the development of Fibercore since 2011 and their support of the management team. This is an exciting moment in the Fibercore story and in combining our strengths with Humanetics and its leadership in sensor technologies, I believe we have found the perfect partner.”
About Fibercore
Established in 1982, Fibercore was formed as a business venture spin-out from the world-renowned Optical Fiber Group of the University of Southampton to offer the specialty optical fibers developed at the University, commercially. Today, the UK-based company manufactures the most comprehensive suite of specialty optical fibers, including single-mode, photosensitive, multicore, polarization maintaining, spun, doped, and multimode fibers; passive cladding pumped fiber and components, fiber bragg grating, and complementary products. Fibercore products are used in a broad and growing range of applications spread throughout more than 50 countries including fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs), fiber optic hydrophones, fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), embedded sensors, specialist medical, government and corporate research agencies and telecommunications components. For additional information on Fibercore, see www.fibercore.com.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over €20 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:
- H.I.G. Capital’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalisations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
- H.I.G. Capital’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
- H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of €22 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.hig.com.
About Humanetics Innovative Solutions
Humanetics Innovative Solutions is a leading global supplier of precision test systems and sensor solutions. The company harnesses the best of today’s technologies for the creation of high-quality products which play a critical role in improving safety, comfort and protection of people and their environment. Humanetics is the world’s leading supplier in the design and manufacture of sophisticated crash test dummies, associated finite element software simulation models and advanced safety test and calibration equipment. Furthermore, Humanetics develops and supplies custom force, load, torque and pressure sensors and advanced strain gauging services. For additional information on Humanetics and its portfolio of companies, see www.humaneticsatd.com, HITEC see www.hitecorp.com, SDI see www.sendev.com, and FronTone see www.frontone.at.
About Golden Gate Capital
Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with over $15 billion of capital under management. The principals of Golden Gate Capital have a long and successful history of investing across a wide range of industries and transaction types, including going-privates, corporate divestitures, and recapitalizations, as well as debt and public equity investments. For more information, visit www.goldengatecap.com.
* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.