Car Roof Rack Manufacturer Advanced Accessory Systems' Parent Company Sells Restaurant Chain

Castle Harlan, Inc., a New York private-equity investment firm and parent company of car roof rack manufacturer Advanced Accessory Systems, recently announced that it completed the sale of Charlie Brown's, a New Jersey-based family steakhouse chain. The chain was sold to Trimaran Capital Partners, a private-equity firm that is also based in New York. The transaction is reported to be valued at $140 million.

Industry experts forecast that the move will transfer more emphasis to Castle Harlan's roof rack unit, Advanced Accessory Systems, which is the largest manufacturer of automotive roof racks, and markets the line of car rack systems and aftermarket products under several brands that include SportRack Automotive, Sportrack Accessory Group, Valley Automotive, ValTek Technologies and ValTek Automotive. Current factory roof rack customers include BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Ford, Honda, GM, Hyundai, KIA, Isuzu, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Opel, Daewoo, Subaru, Skoda, Seat, Toyota and Volkswagen.