Driving Your Transformative Acquisitions
When Miami-based SAP USA Truck and Auto Parts (SAP), a well-known distributor of private label aftermarket truck and automotive parts, decided to add an entirely new business vertical to its platform, the company called Cozen O’Connor for help. While SAP has 40 years of experience in distribution, its transformative acquisition of Industrial Fabricators, Inc. (IFAB), a family-owned auto parts manufacturer, broke new ground for SAP and critically advanced its strategic growth objectives. IFAB is a Tier 1 supplier to established car manufacturing brands such as Daimler Truck North America, Mack, Volvo, and other transportation and construction companies.
We assembled a multidisciplinary team of corporate, real estate, environmental, and employee benefits lawyers to get the deal done, negotiating the acquisition of all of IFAB’s operating assets (including industrial equipment) and securing long-term leases on two large-scale fabrication facilities. Having established good rapport with IFAB’s longtime outside counsel, our team was able to respond with sensitivity when altered family dynamics, and legal complexities generated by unexpected transitions in ownership, arose during negotiations. Soon after the successful close, SAP retained Cozen O’Connor to handle the follow-on purchase of one of the leased manufacturing plants, which closed in February 2024.