Hussey Copper bought by private equity firm

Leetsdale-based Hussey Copper was purchased last week by a New York private equity firm that said it wants to grow the 172- year- old metals manufacturer.

Hussey was acquired by KPS Capital Partners from investment fund Zohar III.

The Zohar fund was formerly managed by Patriarch Partners, which had acquired Hussey Copper in 2011.

Hussey makes copper bar, sheet, tape and other products used in electrical, industrial and construction projects. It has manufacturing facilities in Leetsdale and Kentucky.

KPS Capital Partners has assets under management worth $ 12 billion, including investments in other metals manufacturers.

Companies in its portfolio operated 158 manufacturing facilities in 22 countries and employed over 32,000, as of the end of September.

A Delaware judge presiding over the Zohar fund’s bankruptcy protection case approved the sale on Nov. 30.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In a statemnt, Ryan Harrison, a partner of KPS Mid-Cap Investments, praised Hussey Copper’s “strong brand and manufacturing expertise” and said KPS plans “to drive the company’s growth both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”

Hussey Copper has about 450 employees, about 320 of whom are union members. The sale will not change the number of employees or the terms of the union contracts, said Christine Vogel, Hussey’s corporate manager of human resources.

The company was founded in Pittsburgh in 1848.