Private equity giants bet on aerospace with Triumph acquisition. Image Sarut/AdobeStockTriumph Group has announced a significant development in its corporate trajectory. The company has finalized a definitive agreement that will see it transition from a publicly traded entity to private ownership in a deal valued at $3 billion. This acquisition will be executed by affiliates of two private equity firms: Warburg Pincus and Berkshire Partners. These firms are joining forces through a newly created entity specifically for this transaction.The deal follows Triumph’s announcement in October 2024 that it was exploring strategic options, including a possible sale. Potential suitors at the time were speculated to include TransDigm, Woodward, Parker Hannifin, Curtiss-Wright and Eaton.
Triumph Group, headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, has evolved significantly since its founding in 1993. The company designs, develops, manufactures, repairs, and provides spare parts for a wide range of aerospace and defense systems and components, serving a global clientele that includes original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and both commercial and military aircraft operators.
In late 2023, Triumph sold its components aftermarket business to AAR for $725 million. This sale reflects Triumph’s strategy to concentrate on its core competency: manufacturing aircraft parts and spares, a higher-growth area than the aftermarket business.
This sale marks another step in Triumph’s restructuring, which began in 2016. Since then, the company has been streamlining operations by consolidating, closing underperforming plants, and divesting non-core assets. Prior divestitures include the 2022 sale of its Stuart, Florida, aerostructures business (specializing in large, complex metallic structures like wing and fuselage assemblies) to Daher Aerospace (terms undisclosed). In 2021, Triumph sold its Texas-based aerospace structures operations to Arlington Capital Partners, who had also acquired Triumph’s composites operations in Milledgeville, Georgia, and Rayong, Thailand, in August 2020. These composites operations provide structural and engine composite fabrications and assemblies for commercial, business jet, and defense platforms, supporting key programs like the Boeing 787, 777, and V-22; Airbus A320, A330, and A350; Embraer E-2; Northrop Grumman Global Hawk; and the Gulfstream G650/700.
This transformation has streamlined the company into a more focused provider of key systems and components, including actuation, engine controls, gearboxes and accessory drive units, mechanical and thermal systems, interiors, and MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) services.
Triumph is currently experiencing renewed growth, with sales forecast for $1.2 billion in the current fiscal year, driven by increasing commercial OEM production rates and robust MRO demand. The company is well-positioned to benefit from the ongoing recovery of the commercial aviation industry, fueled by rising pas
