Avantus

About 

Inflexion invested in Avantus Aerospace ("Avantus"), a global leader in C-Class components for the aerospace and defence industry, initially backing the secondary buyout of Shimtech in 2015. The business, renamed Avantus Aerospace in 2020, was sold in 2026 to Arcline Investment Management, with Avantus and its subsidiaries operating as brands of Novaria Group, an Arcline portfolio company.

California-based Avantus is a global leader in the manufacture of shims, fasteners and detailed parts, operating across eight businesses in North America and Europe. It provides mission-critical parts to all major OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers and distributors into both commercial and defence aircraft programmes, serving blue-chip customers across the sector.

Value acceleration 

Together with Inflexion's support, Avantus pursued a disciplined M&A strategy, completing a series of targeted acquisitions to build a diversified global platform in C-Class aerospace components and broaden its customer base, product range and end-markets. The business also benefited from significant investment in its operations, including automation, capacity expansion and a new technology platform, underpinned by a new senior leadership team.

Combined with strong organic growth, this consolidation strategy more than doubled revenue and drove a 2.4x increase in EBITDA during Inflexion's investment, with defence growing to represent more than 30% of revenues. This was delivered through periods of significant market disruption, including the 737 MAX suspension and Covid-19, as Avantus built a compelling global position in a market with powerful long-term tailwinds.