Leonard Levie: The Master of the Turnaround

Leonard Levie started the professional journey of his life by launching a New York-based investment company, American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) back in 1996. Since then, he and his firm have been helping businesses that others consider hopelessly unprofitable, over leveraged, or otherwise out of options. 

Who is Leonard Levie?

Leonard Levie is the Chairman and Founder of American Industrial Acquisition Corporation, the AIAC Foundation Inc., and AIAC subsidiaries & affiliates, including Arnprior Aerospace, Avara Pharmaceutical Services, BeLink Solutions, Bradford Space, Champlain Cable, Canadian Kraft Paper Industries, Combi Wear Parts, Consolidated Industries, D2A, Epalia, Eurofoil, IP3 Plastics, Lenape Forged Products, Malaga Aerospace, MG GmbH, Neotiss, Shriro Group, SuperAlloy, Titanium Fabrication, Umbillicals International, Vermont Aerospace,and numerous others.

Leonard Levie has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, The Association for Corporate Growth, and the Turnaround Management Association.  Mr. Levie has lectured on Investing in France, accompanying the former Prime Minister of France, Fabius Laurent, at the Consulate General of France in New York City in 2015. 

Mr. Levie is active in the non-profit world.  He is a member of the Trilateral Commission, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Council on Foreign Relations Legacy Society, the Economic Club of New York, and the Yale CEO Summit.  He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Forest Products Association of Canada.  Individually or through the AIAC Foundation, Mr. Levie donates to a wide range of educational, cultural, and medical institutions worldwide. 

Under his guidance, the portfolio of American Industrial Acquisition Corporation now consists of 78 manufacturing and distribution sites. The portfolio companies of AIAC employ more than 8,500 sprawling in 24 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia.

According to Dun & Bradstreet, the corporate family tree of AIAC now consists of 22 subsidiaries and 13 branches. With the total revenue exceeding $1.6 billion, the parent company, AIAC, also owns an expansive industrial real estate portfolio of over 6.5 million square feet and also holds the exclusive, perpetual license for sustainably harvesting and managing 22 million acres of prime Canadian timberland, an area equivalent to the size of the state of Hungary.

AIAC has purchased companies from a Who’s Who of list of blue chip multinationals, including Allegion, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Boeing, Carlyle Group, Constellium, Electrolux, Melrose Plc./GKN Aerospace, Ingersoll Rand, Jabil Circuits, Johnson Controls, Kodak, Lockheed Martin, Merck, Moog, Northrop Grumman, Novelis, NXP Semiconductors, Pfizer, Promens, Raytheon Technologies, Rexel Group, Riverside Companies, Sandvik, Senior Plc., Suez Group, Tolko, and Visteon. 

AIAC’s portfolio constitutes a diverse collection of manufacturing, distribution, and natural resource companies serving most major industrial sectors, including automation, auto, truck, rail, marine, construction, defense, distribution, energy power generation, infrastructure, mining, packaging materials, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

AIAC’s winning investments have outnumbered its losers by 20 to 1. This enviable turnaround track record and its broad global reach have made AIAC a powerful magnet for distressed investment opportunities worldwide.  A steady stream of new acquisition opportunities are sourced by AIAC’s deal origination team, strategically located in most major international capitals.  These acquisition professionals have developed deep relationships with investment bankers, attorneys, accountants, consultants, senior strategic corporate development executives, and the economic development representatives of dozens of foreign governments.

To keep the process as stress-free and short as possible for the seller, AIAC professionals complete acquisitions with breathtaking speed, often as little as 15 to 30 days, including due diligence and documentation.