Posted October 10, 2014

 

LOS ANGELES – Sage Automotive Interiors of Greenville, S.C., has been sold by LA-based investment firm The Gores Group to Santa Monica, Calif.-based Clearlake Capital Group, the companies announced. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

 

Sage, a leading global supplier of automotive textiles, was formed in 2009 when management completed a buyout to acquire Milliken & Company’s automotive business. The Gores Group subsequently invested alongside management in support of a shared vision to build a global, best-in-class automotive interiors platform serving the expanding global needs of customers including Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and Volkswagen.

 

Sage has offices and manufacturing locations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. With the top position in automotive seating fabrics, Sage has grown rapidly in Europe and Asia, and under The Gores Group’s ownership, become the No. 2 supplier of automotive seating fabrics globally.

 

Sage Automotive will remain an independent entity headquartered at the CU-ICAR campus in Greenville, according to reports.

 

“The strategic vision that we have executed at Sage together with our partners at The Gores Group represents an exciting success story,” said Dirk Pieper, CEO of Sage. “We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to learn and grow over the last several years as a newly independent organization with the critical operational support and business discipline that The Gores Group has provided, and our people at Sage have really embraced our vision and propelled our tremendous success and accomplishments in the global marketplace. I am proud of our team and the culture that we have created in partnership with The Gores Group, and we remain focused on the strong opportunities that we see to continue to win and deliver for our customers and other stakeholders.”

 

Kyle Wheeler, who led the transaction for The Gores Group in conjunction with Steve Yager, Gores’ head of M&A, said, “Sage is an impressive organization, and the success that we have had in partnership with the Sage team is emblematic of what The Gores Group excels at as a firm. Sage presented an opportunity to back a winning management team and to rapidly action a strategy to build a scale asset with global strength, underpinned by a commitment to operational excellence and an intense focus on the needs of demanding global customers.”

 

Yager added that, together with the Sage team, Clearlake successfully expanded its business in Brazil, completed an acquisition in Europe and established a joint venture in China, adding to core strength in North America and a market that has grown significantly since the time of our investment.

 

“We believe Sage is extremely well positioned for the future, and we are excited for the Sage team to have strong support from their new financial partners to take the business to new levels of success and performance,” Yager said.