· Press Release

Cerberus Statement on Forbes Opinion Piece

Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (“Cerberus”) provided the following statement in response to an opinion piece published by Forbes.com on January 25, 2021.

 

An article recently published on Forbes by a contributing opinion writer contains numerous material inaccuracies, unfounded claims, and defamatory insinuations related to Cerberus, Steve Feinberg, and Sparton Corporation (“Sparton”). It is important to note that Forbes did not contact any referenced parties prior to the publication of the article or make any attempt to corroborate the highly misleading assertions in this article.

To set the record straight, Cerberus acquired Sparton in 2019, following our consistent and thorough private equity diligence process. Since that time, we have partnered closely with the company to execute on operational and strategic initiatives, including the transformative separation of its defense products and contract manufacturing segments and the appointment of key leadership team members. Following the divesture of the contract manufacturing segment, Sparton became a standalone, pure-play defense supplier and attracted interest from strategic acquirers.

In December 2020, Cerberus announced an agreement to sell Sparton to Elbit Systems of America, a Fort Worth-based company, via public press release. As described in the announcement (here), we believe the combination with Elbit Systems of America will enable Sparton, which will maintain its operations in DeLeon Springs, Florida, to continue to meet the evolving needs of the U.S. Navy, allied governments, and leading defense contractors.

We are proud of all that we have accomplished together with Sparton. We categorically reject the insinuation of the Forbes opinion piece writer that there was any connection with Cerberus’ investment and Mr. Feinberg’s part-time service as a private citizen on The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (“PIAB”). Mr. Feinberg went through a rigorous review by the Office of Government Ethics and additional U.S. Government departments and has dutifully followed all laws and regulations regarding the separation of his personal service on PIAB and Cerberus’ investment activities.

Since our inception in 1992, Cerberus has maintained an unwavering commitment to compliance, governance, and the highest ethical standards. This tone has always been set at the top by Mr. Feinberg and to insinuate anything to the contrary, especially without facts, only further reveals the baselessness of the opinion piece published by Forbes.

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