Stellex Capital Acquires Crest Ultrasonics to Accelerate Industrial Technology Platform

The manufacturing industrial‐technology sector continues to attract consolidation as buyers seek differentiated, precision-driven platforms. In this context, Stellex Capital’s acquisition of Crest Ultrasonics represents a clear strategic move: acquiring a well-positioned, global OEM with deep engineering credentials, and embedding it into a broader value creation strategy. For founders, investors, and industrial operators, the deal reflects how private capital is reshaping equipment manufacturing via technical asset roll-ups.

Deal Summary

Buyer: Stellex Capital Management, a New York-based private equity firm with over $5 billion in assets under management, with a focus on manufacturing, industrial, aerospace, and defense sectors.

Seller/Target: Crest Ultrasonics, a 60-plus-year-old global manufacturer of cleaning, welding, and joining equipment serving medical device, electronics, aerospace, automotive, and general industrial markets. Crest operates manufacturing locations in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Geographic Footprint and Reach: Crest has manufacturing in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, enabling global end-market access and support for critical manufacturing applications.

Rationale: Stellex intends to partner with Crest’s management to drive operational excellence, accelerate growth initiatives, and capitalize on Crest’s engineered solutions across end-markets that demand precision, technology, and differentiated offering.

Transaction Timing: Announced October 3, 2025.

Industry Context

Advanced manufacturing equipment - particularly for critical cleaning, welding, or joining functions in aerospace, electronics, and medical device markets - is increasingly under pressure to deliver higher precision, shorter lead-times, and global support. Because these markets tend to be fragmented and specialized, they present attractive roll-up opportunities for private capital.

Crest’s capabilities align with this trend: its technology-intensive equipment and global reach make it a differentiated target. Stellex’s acquisition reflects a broader movement where private equity invests not simply in generic manufacturing assets, but in high-technology industrial platforms with global servicing models. The combination of proprietary engineering, global footprint, and end-market relevance offers a strong vector for growth and consolidation.

Lower-Middle-Market Roll-Up Perspective

From a roll-up and buy-and-build viewpoint, several features of this transaction stand out:

• Technical differentiation: Crest is not a commodity machine-shop; its advanced cleaning and welding systems require deep engineering and end-market alignment, raising barriers to entry and enhancing value for a platform buyer.
• Global scale: With manufacturing across multiple geographies, Crest gives Stellex a base from which to build manufacturing and service networks, crucial for OEMs who demand global support.
• Operational upside: The buyer outlines an intention to work with management to improve operational performance - typical of operationally-oriented PE strategies in lower middle-market manufacturing.
• Platform orientation: Rather than a standalone asset, this acquisition fits into Stellex’s broader industrial-technology strategy, suggesting Crest may serve as a platform for further bolt-ons or capability layering.
• Investor strategy clarity: Stellex’s role as a hands-on operator in industrial manufacturing (with targets in manufacturing, real economy, business services) suggests the investment will be supported by both capital and operational resources.

Why This Sector Is Attractive for Roll-Ups

• As OEMs across aerospace, medical, and electronics seek more efficient, controlled, and compliant manufacturing equipment, players like Crest become strategic suppliers.
• Manufacturing clients are increasingly demanding global support, quality standards (e.g., for aerospace/medical), and equipment solutions - not just tools - driving a premium on suppliers with global reach and engineering depth.
• Private equity platforms in manufacturing are growing beyond standard roll-ups - focusing instead on specialized, technology-rich niches where investment in engineering, global footprint, and value-add is rewarded.
• Timing is favorable: amid supply-chain reshoring, higher regulatory/quality demands, and global competition, manufacturing equipment companies with differentiated technology are ripe for consolidation.

Conclusion

Stellex Capital’s acquisition of Crest Ultrasonics exemplifies how industrial manufacturing roll-ups are evolving. Not just volume plays, these are capability-rich platform builds aimed at global, high-precision manufacturing.

Key take-aways for different stakeholders:

• Operators/Founders: If your business intersects high-technology manufacturing - even if smaller scale - you may attract interest from PE platforms seeking differentiated assets.
• Investors: This deal reinforces that manufacturing equipment businesses with engineering differentiation, global reach, and high-value end-markets remain attractive targets within the lower-middle-market.
• Customers/OEMs: Expect larger, better-resourced equipment suppliers with global footprints and deeper engineering involvement, as platform players scale and consolidate.

In sum, this acquisition isn’t just about ownership change - it signals a strategic shift in how manufacturing equipment markets are consolidating and how private capital is building the next generation of industrial platforms.