A backlog of potential sellers is also coming to market, bankers said. Many private equity firms held onto portfolio companies far longer than they typically would as pandemic-era production swings and bloated inventories made it difficult to value businesses with confidence.
"There was no way a buyer — or you — had any idea what your revenues were going to be," said Stephen Perry, managing director at Janes Capital.
As build rates stabilize and their trajectories become more predictable, buyers are growing more comfortable pricing in a target's future performance — even against the backdrop of Boeing's well-documented struggles.
That calculus played out last year when France-based DEMGY expanded into Boeing's supply chain by acquiring Tool Gauge, a family-owned, midsized supplier of jetliner interior parts.
Boeing was still struggling to stabilize production when DEMGY began looking at Tool Gauge, which is based in Tacoma, Washington, near Boeing's 737 plant.
DEMGY bet Boeing's fortunes would turn around, and by moving early, it largely avoided a bidding war for Tool Gauge, said Mike Walter, president of DEMGY's North American operations.
"Sometimes when you see an opportunity, you have to take it. We saw an opportunity," he said.
He declined to disclose the purchase price. DEMGY had global revenue of €125 million in 2025.
Competition for even small suppliers is increasing, though, particularly due to increased interest from private equity firms, dealmakers said.
Susan Kasa is on the receiving end of that scramble. The owner of Boulevard Machine, a small machine shop with a couple dozen workers outside Springfield, Massachusetts, said she now fields "two to three calls a day" from prospective buyers.
Kasa said her trained workforce — a scarce commodity in an industry grappling with labor shortages — is part of what makes her company such an appealing target.
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