Published: July 02, 2009 09:29 am      

ArvinMeritor purchased by Open Gate

OpenGate Capital, a global private equity firm with headquarters in Los Angeles, has acquired Gabriel North America (NA), a leading provider of shock absorbers and strut assemblies, from ArvinMeritor.

Gabriel NA maintains manufacturing, warehouse, sales and management offices throughout North America including Chickasha; Detroit, Mich.; Chickasha, Oklahoma; Brentwood, Tenn. and Queretaro, Mexico. The company generates nearly $200 million of sales and has over 1,300 employees in the U.S., Canada and Mexico serving over 600 customer accounts.

At its peak early in the decade, ArvinMeritor employed more than 1,000 people in Chickasha but moved its production operations almost three years ago, maintaining a warehouse and distribution center here.

The company has reportedly moved some of its plating operations back to Chickasha after closing a plant in Toronto. There are approximately 200 people currently working at the local facility.

Chickasha City Manager Larry Shelton said Wednesday that city and EDC officials have had discussions with OpenGate Capital executives about the Chickasha plant.

"We have talked with the new owners and we are doing everything we can do to facilitate the growth of their business in Chickasha," Shelton said.

The acquisition is OpenGate’s first venture into the automotive sector.

For this investment, OpenGate officials said they are partnering with Gabriel North America’s management team to complete a transformation of the business.

“OpenGate is uncovering attractive niche investment opportunities in fragmented and rapidly changing industries,” said OpenGate’s Founder and Managing Partner Andrew Nikou in a company news release.

By bringing additional expertise and resources to businesses in transition such as Gabriel NA, we maximize brand equity, product technology and customer relationships to produce excellent results for our investors. OpenGate will leverage Gabriel NA’s infrastructure to aggressively pursue other acquisitions in the motor vehicle market.

Gabriel is one of the most widely recognized brands in the North American automotive and commercial vehicle aftermarket and supplies most of its products through a diverse and well-known customer base.





The company is also a leading supplier of shocks to North American commercial, industrial and recreational vehicle manufacturers.

In transforming the business, the management team and OpenGate will work to optimize manufacturing, expand product range, and broaden the range of niche applications for its products, the press release stated.

"OpenGate brings valuable resources and ideas to our company,” Linda J. Bahash, president of Gabriel NA, said. “Aligning with such a top-tier private equity firm is a very positive step in Gabriel's long history. We look forward to working closely with OpenGate to unleash value for Gabriel NA and all of its stakeholders. We agree that the opportunities in the aftermarket segment, which offers many pockets of growth, are especially exciting."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

A spokesperson for ArvinMeritor did not return a phone message left for her Wednesday morning.