News Article

DR Technologies acquired by private equity firm
Date: Mar 10, 2009
Source: Composite World

Featured firm in this article: Vanguard Space Technologies Inc of San Diego, CA



Nogales Investors acquires DR Technologies, which owns Vanguard Composites Group, V System Composites and Vector Composites.

Private equity firm Nogales Investors (Los Angeles, Calif., USA) has acquired a controlling interest in DR Technologies (San Diego, Calif., USA), a company engaged in the development and manufacturing of advanced composite structural products for aerospace and defense applications. The transaction was structured as a recapitalization, whereby Nogales Investors provided liquidity to outside shareholders, while management retained a substantial ownership position in the company.

“DR Technologies is strongly positioned to capitalize on the long-term trends in the aerospace industry, and specifically the continued use of composites in a wide variety of aerospace applications,” said Luis Nogales, managing partner of Nogales Investors. “Going forward, management will continue to own a significant equity stake in the business, and we look forward to a successful partnership with Lyle Dunbar and his management team.”

DRT conducts its business through the DRT parent company and its wholly-owned subsidiary companies: Vanguard Composites Group, V System Composites and Vector Composites. The company and its subsidiaries have quality and management systems certified for ISO9000:2001 and AS9100 levels for aerospace production. Major products and applications include highly-engineered antenna reflectors and bus structure components as well as assemblies for commercial telecommunications, military, and civil satellites; production of composite structural components and assemblies for military and civil aircraft, missile, engine, and electronic applications; space solar-power components and subsystem assemblies for satellites; and production of precision composite tube products, composite electronics enclosures, and specialized electronic structural products for aerospace applications.

Lyle Dunbar, founder and CEO of DR Technologies stated, “We are pleased to complete this recapitalization of our company and obtain the financing necessary to implement our growth strategy. We selected Nogales Investors as our financial partner for a number of traditional reasons, but a unique reason was their approach to partnering with the management/employee shareholder team to provide a sound foundation for the company’s continued growth.”