Aurelius, a global alternative investor, plans to remain acquisitive in North America and could turn to more add-ons in Mexico and Latin America following the takeover of Dayco Propulsion Solutions, including Dayco Products S.A de C.V (MX) and Dayco Products Mexico SA de CV, Stephan Mayerhausen, Head of North America at Aurelius Investment Advisory, said.

“Mexico is a very interesting market for us, particularly from a nearshoring perspective for the US and the Canadian markets,” he noted, adding that add-ons are a way to acquire Mexican talent, which is currently scarce.

Asked if the investor, which has completed more than 300 transactions since its foundation in 2005, is looking for portfolio acquisitions headquartered in Mexico or the region, the executive said that at this point it is lacking the in-house expertise but is open to the possibility in the long term.

The nature of potential add-on acquisitions in the region would depend on the platforms’ strategies, but the focus would be on traditional sectors, such as industry or chemicals, according to Mayerhausen.

Aurelius announced in May that it acquired Dayco Propulsion Solutions, an Italy-based power transmission products subsidiary of US Dayco Group with a significant focus on North America, for an undisclosed amount, including Dayco Products S.A. de C.V. (MX) and Dayco Products Mexico S.A. de C.V.

Dayco Propulsion Solutions, which according to Mayerhausen was recently rebranded by Aurelius to Muviq, was projected to generate USD 479m in sales and USD 44.4m adjusted EBITDA for the FY23, as reported.

Besides Muviq, the Aurelius portfolio companies LSG Sky Chefs and ECO3 are active in Mexico, the executive said.

The firm also announced in August that Minova, an Aurelius Private Equity Mid-Market portfolio company, strengthened its activities in the Latin American market by acquiring Brazil-based Itabolt.

Aurelius, which opened its first office outside of Europe in January, located in New York, is now interested in acquiring North American headquartered companies with sizeable operational activities outside of the North American market, Stephan Mayerhausen noted.

“We are in the process of building our operations advisory team in North America, which gives us easy access to Canada and Mexico. We are closing the gap with our larger US competitors,” he added.

Active across the globe, Aurelius is a specialist for complex investments with operational improvement potential, including carve-outs, platform build-ups or succession solutions as well as bespoke financing solutions, according to the executive.

Its key differentiator is its in-house operations advisory team with more than 180 specialists, supporting the portfolio companies in their transformations, as pointed out by Mayerhausen.