L Squared Capital Partners, a Newport Beach-based private equity firm, said it’s selling the GWS Tool Group to Swedish manufacturing giant Sandvik AB.GWS Tool Group, a provider of highly engineered consumable cutting tools with headquarters in Florida,, will be under the Walter division within the Sandvik Manufacturing and Machining Solutions.
“We are grateful for our partnership with the executive leadership team at GWS, notably Rick McIntyre as CEO,” said Randall Hunt, a partner at L Squared.
L Squared invested in GWS in 2019, saying it was in a fragmented industry of regional cutting tools. In the past four years, GWS has completed 10 add-on acquisitions that resulted in the company growing revenue from less than $10 million to approximately $100 million. It services primarily the aerospace and defense, power generation, automotive and medical sector
It marks the seventh exit for L Squared Capital Partners, which was formed in 2014. Sandvik AB, which has 37,125 employees worldwide, is a multinational engineering company specializing in a variety of manufacturing and construction industries.