Compass Precision Acquires Fifth Operating Company
CHARLOTTE, NC – March 29, 2021 – Compass Precision, LLC, a manufacturer of custom, close-tolerance metal components for demanding applications based in Charlotte, NC, announced Monday that it has acquired Douglas Machining Services, Inc. in Winona, Minnesota.
“We are thrilled and excited to be joining forces with Dan Douglas and the wonderful company he has built in Winona,” explained Gary Holcomb, Compass’s President and CEO to whom Dan will report as President of Douglas Machining Services, LLC, the new entity. “Dan and his team share Compass’s passion for serving customers extremely well in the machining of complicated, close tolerance parts.”
Douglas Machining is home to a state-of-the-art equipment base, including eight multi-tasking mill/turn machines. Six of these units have 5-axis milling capabilities while the other two offer 4-axis milling. Additionally, the company has numerous 3 and 4-axis vertical milling centers, traditional CNC lathes, an EDM machine, a coordinate measuring machine and room for more growth. Douglas Machining services a large customer base in industrial and specialty markets located in the upper Midwest and throughout the United States.
“I am really happy to be associating with Compass,” stated Dan Douglas. “Unlike other potential buyers of my company, Gary and the Compass people really understand the precision machining business. I never thought I would sell to someone willing to aggressively invest in new equipment. But I did, and we will.”
Like the other Compass Precision operating companies, Douglas Machining features one-stop shopping with the ability to take customers from sketch or idea all the way through order shipped complete. Douglas also works with metals and plastics, including difficult-to-work-with materials.
“Douglas Machining Services is a really good fit for us,” explained Compass CFO Paul Wilhelm. “This acquisition is unique because of its location outside of North Carolina where our other facilities are located. But we always have had national aspirations. And an add-on as well managed as Douglas is a perfect way to begin our geographic expansion.”
Douglas Machining will become the fifth operating company under the Compass Precision umbrella, and the first situated a considerable distance from Charlotte, the location of the company’s headquarters. While Douglas is more than 1,000 miles away from the other four operating companies, Compass plans to integrate and support this new unit in the same manner as it has with its sister divisions. In particular, Compass believes that numerous cross-selling and cross-sourcing opportunities exist to enable each operating company to succeed in ways not possible by itself.
Main Street Capital Holdings, LLC, a Pittsburgh-based private equity firm, purchased Advanced Machining & Tooling, LLC, Quality Products & Machine, LLC and Tri-Tec Industries, LLC in Oct. 2019 and officially formed Compass Precision, LLC shortly thereafter. In Aug. 2020, Compass added Gray Manufacturing Technologies, LLC as its first add-on acquisition.
Together, the five companies service a diversified group of blue-chip customers in the aerospace & defense, space, power generation, medical, telecommunications, general industrial, and industrial automation markets.
For more information on this acquisition, please listen to the latest episode of our podcast, The Right Direction.