M&A Case Study: Sale of Capacitors Company for $263M
Company
Cornell Dubilier, a leading manufacturer of high-quality capacitors. In September 2023, Cornell Dubilier was acquired by Knowles Corporation, a global supplier of high-performance components and solutions, in a $263M cash deal.
Position
Fractional CFO, Controller, Transactional Accountant
Challenge
We operated as the CFO and Controller of Cornell Dubilier’s Snow Hill branch as of January 2021, having facilitated that sale of CD Snow Hill from NWL Inc. from the sale-side. We remained on to facilitate the buy-side transaction, and were invited by Jim Kaplan, president of Cornell Dubilier, to continue in our roles as fractional CFO, controller, and transactional accounting support.
When Mr. Kaplan made the decision to sell the entirety of Cornell Dubilier, he turned to us as he knew the quality of our work. We were tasked with establishing a clean financial picture for the sale.
Work Performed
In preparation for the sale, we provided clean, audit-ready financial reports with supporting analyses. While in the sale process, we followed through will Due Diligence. We liaised with banks and attorneys, in coordination with representatives from both CD and Knowles.
In the post-acquisition phase, we have provided ongoing support to Knowles, integrating general ledger account mapping and converting the fiscal year end.
We have also completed multiple process documentation projects to enable the conversion of CD’s systems to Knowles’ systems and to support SOX compliance. Our work has earned us additional projects with Knowles—as well as maintaining a professional relationship with Mr. Kaplan’s new venture.
Outcome
Cornell Dubilier was successfully sold to Knowles on September 1, 2023. Knowles president and CEO Jeffrey Niew reported at the time: “As we look to the first quarter of 2024, we expect to see strong year over year organic growth despite excess channel inventory in some of our end markets. The Cornell Dubilier acquisition is anticipated to further add to growth and profitability. In total, revenue is expected to be up from 35% from first quarter 2023 levels.”