BDA advises on the sale of KDM to Superior Capital Partners

CoActive Technologies, the global industrial controls and components company, has successfully divested its interface solutions business KDM to Superior Capital Partners LLC (“Superior”), a Detroit-based private equity firm. Superior has acquired KDM as an add-on acquisition to its user-interface and product identification portfolio company, Nelson-Miller, Inc. Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to CoActive Technologies on the KDM sale process and strategy. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

KDM is a global provider of user-interface components and modules including keypads, dome arrays and light guides to a premier customer base in the cell phone, point-of-sale, gaming, computing, and consumer industries. It is headquartered in Singapore with its main manufacturing operations in Xiamen, China.

Nelson-Miller, based in Los Angeles, designs, manufactures and sources customized membrane switches, graphic overlays, nameplates, rubber keypads, touchscreens and other user-interface and product identification solutions. Its products are highly customized and are used by original equipment manufacturers in a broad range of industries such as healthcare, industrial, aerospace and consumer.

“The merger of KDM into Nelson-Miller adds tremendous capacity and resources to our growing business. KDM is a technology leader in backlighting and interface solutions and has successfully supported industry leaders in the development and manufacturing of innovative products for more than thirty years. We are excited about the potential that this merger brings to the customers of both Nelson-Miller and KDM,” commented David Bland, Nelson-Miller CEO.

“We are confident that the combination of KDM with Nelson-Miller under Superior’s ownership will be a success, and are pleased to have been able to play a role advising on the transaction. This is a prime example of BDA assisting a larger corporate group in successfully divesting a non-core Asian-centered business following a focused, global process,” said Mark Webster, Managing Director of BDA Shanghai.

About CoActive Technologies
CoActive Technologies, formerly ITT’s switches business, is a leading global designer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered electromechanical interface solutions for the automotive, mobile communications, telecom, medical and off-road vehicle markets, combining the technological expertise from two divisions, C&K Components and DeltaTech Controls. With over 40,000 product solutions and excellent global and local support footprint, CoActive Technologies delivers on its commitment of one company with multiple technologies. With consistent focus on innovation both in terms of support and new product introduction they are the partner of choice for many of the world’s leading blue chip companies.

About Superior Capital Partners
Superior combines capital, transaction experience and operational improvement expertise with proven management teams who have the vision, capability and commitment to successfully improve and grow their businesses. Superior seeks to acquire or recapitalize niche manufacturers, value-added distributors and specialty service companies. Generally, these companies will have annual revenue of $10 to $150 million, identifiable growth opportunities and the need for capital and resources to implement a growth plan.

About Business Development Asia
Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) assists multinational corporate and financial sector clients to identify and execute acquisitions, divestments, JVs, restructuring and capital raising, in Asia and internationally. The company is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bahrain, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo. BDA employs 70 full-time professional staff across its nine offices, supplemented by a team of senior advisors around the world. BDA’s clients include Areva, AXA Private Equity, Celestica, Clariant, Cookson, Dai Nippon Ink and Chemicals, Ecolab, Hercules, Henkel, Jardine Matheson, Kennametal, Life Technologies, Materion, Molex, Nalco, Nova Capital Partners, Pfizer, Reuters, Rexel, Ryder, Sun Chemical, and the Weir Group. Further information on BDA is available at www.bdapartners.com

For more information regarding this transaction, please contact Mark Webster in Shanghai on (86) 21 5407 5580.