The Riverside Company has partnered with Hicks Equity Partners and Weinberg Capital Group to acquire Overton Chicago Gear Corporation, a manufacturer and distributor of large, custom, mission-critical gearing products. Overton is the first acquisition for H-D Advanced Manufacturing Company, a holding company established to specialize in a wide variety of heavy-duty, precision-engineered parts.

PNC Business Credit and Babson Capital provided the financing. KPMG, Jones Day and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld advised Riverside and Hicks on the investment.

Overton designs and manufactures custom helical, spur, herringbone, bevels, double enveloping worm, and other open or loose gears as well as gear boxes for the oil and gas, minerals and mining, rail, renewable energy, power generation, and infrastructure industries.

“Riverside specializes in acquiring middle market companies and providing them with resources that enable them to thrive,” said Riverside partner Tim Gosline. “H-D’s acquisition strategy fits squarely with that of Riverside, and we look forward to working with H-D and Overton’s management to make this investment a success.”

Based in Pittsburgh, H-D Advanced Manufacturing will be led by CEO Chris DiSantis, who has most recently served as CEO and president of Latrobe Specialty Metals and CFO Dale Mikus, who has more than 30 years of financial management experience.

“H-D Advanced Manufacturing is going to build a first class manufacturing company that serves as a strategic supplier to the world’s leading industrial companies, both big and small,” said DiSantis. “I can’t think of a better company than Overton Chicago Gear to serve as H-D’s first acquisition. I look forward to selectively adding other manufacturers of high-quality industrial components to the H-D team and to executing our business strategy.”

The Riverside Company and Hicks teams are actively seeking add-on opportunities for H-D Advanced Manufacturing in the gearing industry and within other heavy duty, precision-engineered component sectors. The Overton Chicago transaction is Riverside’s 28th acquisition of 2012.

The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on acquiring growing businesses valued at up to $200 million.