Investment Strategy

Atlas specializes in a unique, focused approach to buying and building our businesses, often centered on investing in operating companies undergoing complex operational and financial challenges. We focus on business sectors where we have substantial domain expertise and we are not reliant on historical financial performance as the sole means for understanding asset value or scale of an opportunity.

We rely significantly on our Operating Partners, who are deeply experienced managers with relationships and experience in specific business sectors in which we operate.

Our objective post-acquisition is to build strong, sustainable and growing businesses, Performance Organizations that:

  • Are leaders in their markets
  • Generate sustainably high returns on invested capital over the long-term
  • Consistently outperform their peers

Operating Partners

Atlas’ unique and growing network of Operating Partners is an incomparable institutional resource – deeply experienced industrialists who have relationships and expertise in Atlas’ primary business sectors.

Our Operating Partners provide:

  • Identification of opportunities and pitfalls during due diligence process
  • Direction and oversight post-acquisition
  • Active engagement on Boards of Directors and Advisory Committees

Operating Partners 

Sector Expertise

Atlas invests in sectors where we own and operate businesses today, or where we or our Operating Partners have operational competence or historic experience, such as:

  • Automotive products and services
  • Building materials
  • Capital equipment
  • Chemicals
  • Construction
  • Energy
  • Equipment fabrication
  • Food and beverage
  • Industrial distribution
  • Metals and metal fabrication
  • Packaging
  • Paper products

View Sectors

Complex Situations

Atlas has significant experience investing in operating businesses undergoing complex financial and operational challenges.

We understand the need for expediency and certainty and we can move quickly with owners, lenders, management teams or brokers to generate creative solutions that satisfy the needs of interested parties.

We structure transactions so that solutions to problems are implemented at the time of purchase.

We have a depth of experience managing transactions through labor issues, environmental challenges, legal or governmental problems and other operational concerns.

We have completed over 300 transactions:

  • Balance sheet restructurings
  • Bankruptcy purchases
  • Corporate spin-offs
  • Highly structured equity and debt investments
  • Labor, legal or environmental issues
  • Out-of-court restructurings
  • Regulatory challenges
  • Transformation of corporate orphans into high performance businesses

Corporate Carve-Outs

Atlas has become a preferred partner for large sellers executing complex corporate divestitures. We have successfully transacted with the following corporations: