The parent company of Vigor Industrial — whose subsidiary Vigor Alaska operates the state-owned Ketchikan Shipyard — is being sold to an affiliate of international private equity firm Lone Star Funds.
Financial terms of the deal involving the sale of the parent company, Titan Acquisition Holdings, were not disclosed in an announcement published last Friday by the Carlyle Group private investment firm.
Titan was formed in 2019 by Carlyle and the private equity firm Stellex Capital Management, bringing together the Portland-based Vigor Industrial with the Norfolk, Virginia-based MHI Holdings under a unified ownership structure.
In addition to Vigor and MHI Holdings, Titan also owns Continental Maritime of San Diego, giving it an array of ship repair, ship modernization and marine and complex fabrication services capabilities on both coasts and Alaska.
Lone Star, headquartered in Dallas, has offices in 11 countries.
Founded in 1995, Lone Star Funds “invests on behalf of its limited partners, which include institutional investors such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, as well as foundations and endowments that support medical research, higher education and other philanthropic causes,” according to the announcement.
The Alaska Marine Highway System is the primary customer for the Ketchikan Shipyard, which has been owned since 1997 by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
Originally built by the Alaska Department of Transportation during the 1980s, the 25-acre shipyard has been operated under state leases by private entities, including the Ketchikan-based Alaska Ship and Drydock.
Alaska Ship and Drydock began its operation of the shipyard in 1997 and continued through March 2012, when it was purchased by Vigor Industrial.
The Carlyle-Stellex purchase of Vigor in 2019 and formation of Titan Acquisition Holdings marked the first time that the Ketchikan Shipyard would be operated by firms associated with private-equity investment, a trend that will continue with Titan’s sale to the Lone Star Funds affiliate.
The sale is anticipated to close at some point this year, “upon satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including certain governmental approvals,” according to the announcement.
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