Argo Tech Corp

In a deal underscoring the aerospace industry's belief in a bright future, an Orange County aircraft fuel systems manufacturer with $50 million in annual sales has been purchased for about $100 million by Cleveland aerospace products maker Argo-Tech Corp. The deal between the two privately owned companies calls for Costa Mesa-based J.C. Carter Co. to continue operating under its own name and management as an Argo-Tech subsidiary.

In a deal underscoring the aerospace industry's belief in a bright future, an Orange County aircraft fuel systems manufacturer with $50 million in annual sales has been purchased for about $100 million by Cleveland aerospace products maker Argo-Tech Corp. The deal between the two privately owned companies calls for Costa Mesa-based J.C. Carter Co. to continue operating under its own name and management as an Argo-Tech subsidiary.

An aerospace company controlled by New York-based investment firm Vestar Capital Partners Inc. said Tuesday that it paid $30 million for two aerospace companies, including Quality Aluminum Forge in Orange. International AirParts Corp., a newly formed Vestar subsidiary, acquired Mamco Manufacturing Inc., a machine shop and assembler of metal components in Seattle, which has 200 employees.

Eaton Corp. said Thursday that it would buy AT Holdings Corp., parent of Argo-Tech Corp., from two private equity firms for $695 million to expand its aerospace business. The deal, a combination of cash and debt, with private equity firms Greenbriar Equity Group and Vestar Capital Partners is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007. Eaton declined to provide details.