Spirit AeroSystems has acquired materials and composites maker Fiber Materials Inc. from private equity firm Edgewater Capital Partners.
Biddeford, Maine-based FMI specializes in high-temperature materials and composites primarily for aerospace and defense applications. The transaction closed on Jan. 10. Financial details were not disclosed.
FMI employs 220 at two locations. Its main operations focus on reinforced composites for high-temperature structural applications, officials said in a March 17 news release. FMI's products are currently used by several NASA programs.
"The Edgewater team and our board supported us in a transformational period that led to the best strategic partner in Spirit," FMI CEO Mark Miklos said in the release.
He added that the new combination "will strengthen our ability to scale our unique composite solutions to meet both our customers' and ultimately our nation's need for these enabling technologies."
Peter Osgard, a partner with Cleveland-based Edgewater, said that through his firm's partnership with FMI, the company "emerged as a leading supplier of high-temperature composites."
"We are excited to see these efforts accelerate with the complementary capabilities provided by Spirit," he added.
Spirit is a major producer of aerospace structures based in Wichita, Kan. The firm employs 18,000 worldwide and posted sales of almost $7.9 billion in 2019.
It also had a major contract supplying the Boeing 737 Max, which is currently grounded. The 737 Max work made up 50 percent of its revenues. In its annual report, the company said FMI "aligns with the company's strategic growth objectives to diversify its customer base and expand the current defense business."
Edgewater had owned FMI since 2016. It previously owned plastics additives maker PolyAd Services LLC of St. Louis before selling the business to German specialty chemicals firm BYK in 2017.