Key Takeaways
- • Fathom Digital Manufacturing, a CORE Industrial Partners portfolio company, has acquired TCS Industries, TCS Electronics and Precision Grinding & Manufacturing (PGM), three Rochester, New York-area suppliers to aerospace and defense customers, lifting its footprint to 10 facilities and approximately 700 employees.
- • The add-ons come roughly two and a half years after CORE took Fathom private in May 2024 for $4.75 per Class A share, following its December 2021 NYSE listing via an SPAC merger valued at about $1.2 billion.
- • Deloitte expects materials and skilled labor shortages to keep aerospace and defense supply chains under pressure through at least 2027, with some OEMs targeting 40% to 50% capacity expansions over five years.
- • Much of that capacity sits in fragmented, often family-owned machine shops and electronics assemblers, a supplier base private equity firms are consolidating, per the article.
- • The deal follows CORE's January 2026 acquisition of Airway Aerospace through its AxioAero Group aviation aftermarket platform.
Summary
Fathom Digital Manufacturing, a contract maker of precision parts and a portfolio company of CORE Industrial Partners, has acquired TCS Industries, TCS Electronics and Precision Grinding & Manufacturing (PGM), three Rochester, New York-area manufacturers that supply aerospace and defense customers. The add-ons come approximately two and a half years after CORE took Fathom private in May 2024. CORE first invested in the platform in 2018 and remained its largest shareholder during its public ownership. With the acquisitions, Fathom's footprint grows to 10 facilities and approximately 700 employees across seven plants in Wisconsin, Texas, Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois and New York, the latter including Newark, about 35 miles east of Rochester. The company, led by CEO Rush LaSelle, is headquartered in Hartland, Wisconsin.
TCS Industries, established in 1992, is a contract machine shop and sheet metal fabricator operating more than 120 CNC milling and turning machines and performing aluminum dip brazing. Sister company TCS Electronics, which has offered contract electronics manufacturing since 2012, builds printed circuit board assemblies, cable and wire harnesses and complete box builds. The two TCS businesses operate two facilities totaling more than 200,000 square feet and have nearly 35 years of aerospace and defense work, according to founder and president Manoj Shekar. PGM, a family-owned maker of precision components led by CEO Mike Hockenberger, supports customers from low-volume runs through full-rate production. Todd Hockenberger, a corporate VP of PGM, said the family has spent nearly six decades building the business.
Fathom traces its roots to Midwest Composite Technologies, founded in Hartland in 1984 and acquired by CORE in September 2018. Subsequent additions included Fathom, ICOMold and GPI Prototype & Manufacturing Services, and in April 2021 CORE merged the business with Incodema Holdings. Fathom listed on the NYSE in December 2021 through a merger with Altimar Acquisition Corp. II, with CORE retaining roughly 63% of voting power. It reported 2023 revenue of $131.2 million and 576 employees at year-end. In February 2024, CORE agreed to take the company private for up to $73.9 million, including $51.2 million to pay down its credit facility; the transaction closed in May 2024.
The acquisitions align with broader sector dynamics. According to PwC, combined revenue of the 100 largest aerospace and defense companies crossed $1 trillion for the first time in 2025, industry operating profit rose 46%, and the defense backlog has grown more than 50% over three years. Deloitte expects supply chain pressure to persist through at least 2027. Matthew Puglisi, a partner at CORE, said suppliers combining technical expertise, quality and reliable execution will play an increasingly important role as the sector invests in domestic manufacturing capacity, and described TCS and PGM as businesses that complement Fathom's platform and position it for larger aerospace and defense opportunities.
CORE Industrial Partners invests up to $150 million of equity in North American lower middle-market companies with revenue up to $200 million and EBITDA up to $20 million, typically taking majority control. Its latest funds closed in February 2024 with $887 million in committed capital, including $685 million for Fund III and $202 million for CORE Industrial Services Fund I. The firm, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Chicago, completed its January 2026 acquisition of Airway Aerospace, a Florida-based aircraft component repair station, through its AxioAero Group platform.
TCS Industries, established in 1992, is a contract machine shop and sheet metal fabricator operating more than 120 CNC milling and turning machines and performing aluminum dip brazing. Sister company TCS Electronics, which has offered contract electronics manufacturing since 2012, builds printed circuit board assemblies, cable and wire harnesses and complete box builds. The two TCS businesses operate two facilities totaling more than 200,000 square feet and have nearly 35 years of aerospace and defense work, according to founder and president Manoj Shekar. PGM, a family-owned maker of precision components led by CEO Mike Hockenberger, supports customers from low-volume runs through full-rate production. Todd Hockenberger, a corporate VP of PGM, said the family has spent nearly six decades building the business.
Fathom traces its roots to Midwest Composite Technologies, founded in Hartland in 1984 and acquired by CORE in September 2018. Subsequent additions included Fathom, ICOMold and GPI Prototype & Manufacturing Services, and in April 2021 CORE merged the business with Incodema Holdings. Fathom listed on the NYSE in December 2021 through a merger with Altimar Acquisition Corp. II, with CORE retaining roughly 63% of voting power. It reported 2023 revenue of $131.2 million and 576 employees at year-end. In February 2024, CORE agreed to take the company private for up to $73.9 million, including $51.2 million to pay down its credit facility; the transaction closed in May 2024.
The acquisitions align with broader sector dynamics. According to PwC, combined revenue of the 100 largest aerospace and defense companies crossed $1 trillion for the first time in 2025, industry operating profit rose 46%, and the defense backlog has grown more than 50% over three years. Deloitte expects supply chain pressure to persist through at least 2027. Matthew Puglisi, a partner at CORE, said suppliers combining technical expertise, quality and reliable execution will play an increasingly important role as the sector invests in domestic manufacturing capacity, and described TCS and PGM as businesses that complement Fathom's platform and position it for larger aerospace and defense opportunities.
CORE Industrial Partners invests up to $150 million of equity in North American lower middle-market companies with revenue up to $200 million and EBITDA up to $20 million, typically taking majority control. Its latest funds closed in February 2024 with $887 million in committed capital, including $685 million for Fund III and $202 million for CORE Industrial Services Fund I. The firm, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Chicago, completed its January 2026 acquisition of Airway Aerospace, a Florida-based aircraft component repair station, through its AxioAero Group platform.
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