New CEO Aligns with Aerospace Parts Distributor

Align Aerospace, one of the world’s largest distributors of aerospace parts and components, will be flying under new leadership starting this week, when a veteran aerospace executive becomes the company’s new CEO. Richard Organ begins in the position May 1 and has set his sights on improving the profitability and service of the Chatsworth-based company, which reported nearly $100 million in revenue for the first half of 2011. Organ replaces Gary Conrad, who came to Align from Anixter International Inc., Align’s former parent company. The company was sold to Greenbriar Private Equity Group LLC of Rye, N.Y., in August. Align will benefit from Greenbriar’s ownership, said Organ, who was previously president and chief executive of Schneller LLC, an Ohio manufacturer of laminates and flooring for aircraft and ground transportation vehicles. “We are going to be investing in people and processes that had not been coming under the previous ownership,” he said. Align recently renewed the lease on its Chatsworth headquarters and hired as many as 20 new employees for the finance and information technology departments. The investment shows the company’s commitment to staying in the San Fernando Valley, said Ray Benvenuti, the chairman of Align and a managing director at Greenbriar. Indeed, the company may receive more attention under the new ownership. Greenbriar manages $1.5 billion in capital exclusively focused on the aerospace, automotive, trucking, rail, shipping and distribution industries. Anixter serves mainly the wire, cable and telecom industries. Observers say Align also may benefit from having a leader familiar with private ownership. In 2007, Schneller was sold to Graham Partners, a Pennsylvania private equity firm. Four years later, Graham sold Schneller to TransDigm Group Inc., a publicly traded company. “The expectations in terms of results and speed are much greater in private equity versus public or other private ownership,” Organ said. Greenbriar conducted a national search to fill Align’s top executive seat. Benvenuti, who has known Organ for about four years, said the leader was chosen for his proven ability to improve both the top line and bottom line at Schneller. “He was at a manufacturer that was up against tough competition and grew it four fold,” Benvenuti said. “I think we can do the same here.” Organ said his plan is to grow Align’s market share in an industry that has seen heavy consolidation over the past decade. The company’s size is one advantage. It allows the business to be nimble with customer requests, buying effectively from its suppliers and setting up forward stocking locations close to or at customer facilities, Organ said. “Our reputation for excellence and performance is a good platform on which to build,” he said. Private equity firms typically will hold onto a business for three to five years and look for a 20 to 25 percent return on investment, said Stephen R. Perry, managing director with Janes Capital Partners, an Irvine-based investment banking firm. Aerospace companies attract equity firms that align with the industry as a core focus, whereas companies in other industries are targeted by firms that employ a strategy of the quick return, Perry said. Benvenuti said Greenbriar typically keeps its businesses for three years to seven years and doesn’t plan for its exit strategies. Exits are usually a result of market activity, he said.