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American Securities seeks add-ons for Hexion; Crane beats PE firms for Baker Hughes’ carveout in closely watched sale process

Good morning Hubsters, Michael Schoeck here with the US Wire from the New York newsroom.

Fresh up on the Hub today we have a deep dive on add-on deals, tariffs and carveouts from American Securities principal Natasha Kingshott.

Next on deck is PE Hub’s weekly companies-for-sale update, which highlights a recent strategic sale that was first covered as the most read story of 2024 on the Hub.

And we’ll wrap up with a Q1 update from Greenwich Capital Group on the automotive market.

Wood glue to fire safety

Hexion, a manufacturer of wood and industrial-tier resins backed by American Securities, sees an open playbook for add-on deals three years into its private equity holding.

PE Hub touched based with American Securities principal Natasha Kingshott and Hexion president and CEO Michael Lefenfeld for insight on add-on deals as well as the industrial company’s outlook on tariffs on the import of raw materials sourced from around the world.

Premium Wire readers can access additional details on Hexion’s add-on deal strategy, and insight on the industrial company’s exposure to tariffs.

Companies for sale

Based on conversations with confidential sources, company-for-sale activity has started to slow down as the onset of the summer season sets in. We saw a brief uptick in May. So far in 2025, I’ve been briefed on about 129 companies expected to be for sale, with PE buyers or sellers. At this time last year, I was briefed on 119 companies. 

This week, Warburg Pincus closed its sale of industrial pumps and compressors manufacturer Sundyne to Honeywell in a $2.2 billion transaction.

Sign up for the premium version of the Wire to access companies-for-sale content, including the most recent deals involving Baker Hughes and Sundyne.

Grooming a company for sale? Got tips on an active company up for sale? Shoot me a note at [email protected].

PE shies away from automotive deals

The North American automotive industry is in a state of flux, based on uncertainty regarding industry regulations, tariffs and trade policies.

At the same time, the automotive market continues to invest in new technologies which may disrupt the internal combustion engine market and accelerate the transition to EVs. That was the subject of a new Q1 25 quarterly automotive market update from investment bank Greenwich Capital Group.

Readers of the premium version of the Wire can access additional M&A data from the update.

That’s a wrap for me. Keep an eye out for the Europe edition of the Wire tomorrow from Irien Joseph and the US edition from John R Fischer.

Cheers,

Michael

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

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A British company has sold biochar carbon credits at a £200 per ton price point, pointing to a new opportunity for farmers and landowners. Here’s how the market works. (Agri Investor)

“I won’t tolerate an organization that doesn’t genuinely raise diversity and inclusion.” Those words came from Christine McLoughlin, chairman of Australian pension fund Aware Super, speaking on Wednesday at a women in investment event in London. “Diversity has in many ways come a long way over the last few decades of my career,” she told attendees. “[But] I’m still quite often the only woman in the room, and that really saddens me.” (New Private Markets)

Verdane, the second-biggest fundraiser headquartered in Scandinavia per the PEI 300, has sight on the final close on its latest flagship less than two years after raising its prior vintage. (Private Equity International)

Lowell Baron has been appointed chief executive of Brookfield Asset Management’s $320 billion global property business, PERE can reveal. He succeeds Brian Kingston, who is transitioning to executive chair of the real estate group after a decade as CEO.

An influx of private wealth capital into secondaries is impacting the market’s returns, according to a senior executive at Florida State Board of Administration. (Secondaries Investor)

Deals

They said it

“From the M&A side of things, we completed our first acquisition last year. We see a large pipeline of acquisitions.”

— Natasha Kingshott, principal at American Securities, on portfolio company Hexion’s acquisition of Smartech.

Today's letter was prepared by Michael Schoeck

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