Graham Group Overview

The Graham Group

Since 1960, when Donald C. Graham founded Graham Engineering, industrial innovation combined with operational excellence has been the driving force behind the transformation of a two-man engineering services firm into a globally diversified industrial and investment group.

Today, the Graham Group consists of both industrial and investment concerns engaged in a broad array of businesses such as industrial process technology development, capital equipment production, and consumer and industrial products manufacturing. These wholly and substantially owned industrial entities of the Graham Group operate in over 90 locations worldwide, with combined sales approximating $3 billion. The Graham Group investment concerns consist of private equity funds with institutional and other accredited investors, captive financial entities that engage in direct and indirect private equity investing, and management of other investment interests. Graham's investment concerns include Graham Partners, which manages $1.5 billion of committed capital and focuses on making control investments in middle market industrial companies, Striker Partners, a Graham-family sponsored investment firm focused on making control investments in lower middle market companies, Inverness Graham Investments, a growth equity investment fund focused on later-stage industrial technology businesses, and Graham Capital, which manages the Graham family's shareholder office and administers its marketable securities, real estate and alternative investment portfolio.

Industrial Concerns:


Investment Concerns:

  • Graham Capital
  • Graham Partners
  • Striker Partners
  • Inverness Graham Investments

Graham Background

Industrial technology innovations developed and leveraged by companies in the Graham Group fueled the growth of the Graham Group's core industrial businesses. In the 1970's, Graham Engineering designed the Graham Wheel for high-speed blow molding of plastics, and from this revolutionary design, the Graham Group vertically integrated into the rigid plastic container business. By leveraging this proprietary industrial technology, Graham Packaging was able to drive a conversion opportunity from composite cans to plastic containers in the motor oil market, and capture over 70 percent of the US market for quart motor oil plastic bottle production.

In addition to a history of industrial innovation, the companies in the Graham Group have developed a reputation for operational excellence and leadership. Graham Packaging Company (“GPC”) pioneered an “in-plant” strategy, which situated plastic container production facilities inside or directly adjacent to customer facilities. In many plants, GPC container production lines were integrated directly into customer filling lines. This innovative operating strategy eliminated shipping time and cost, and virtually precluded the possibility of GPC's replacement as a vendor. At the time of the GPC recapitalization in 1998, the company was operating 16 such in-plant facilities while the nearest global competitor was operating fewer than three.