ThyssenKrupp Waupaca's Etowah, Tenn., plant is seen from the air.

ThyssenKrupp AG, an Essen, Germany-based materials and technology group that reopened its automotive foundry in Etowah, Tenn., earlier this year, has sold its U.S. subsidiary to a New York-based private equity group.

KPS Capital Partners, LP announced today it has agreed to buy ThyssenKrub Waupaca Inc., the largest independent iron foundry company in the world. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

With three plants in Waupaca and one in Marinette, Wis., and facilities in Tell City, Ind., and Etowah, the company employs approximately 3,500 in all three states and had sales of nearly $1.48 billion in the last fiscal year. The company recently added 20,000 square feet of manufacturing space to its 270,000-square-foot facility in Etowah, Tenn., which is projected to grow its staff to 250 employees this year.

Waupaca produces gray and ductile iron castings for automotive, commercial truck, agriculture, construction, and other industrial markets.

ThyssenKrupp Waupaca President and CEO Gary Gigante said in a statement today that the company agreed to the sale after KPS was able to provide a detailed strategy for the continuity and growth of ThyssenKrupp Waupaca's business.

"We wanted to be sure that Waupaca's next owner shared our commitment to its future and that it was 'business as usual' for our workers and customers the day after the deal is finalized," Gigante said in a statement today.

David Shapiro, a KPS Managing Partner, said, Waupaca "possesses world-class assets, unrivaled scale and scope, industry leading quality and service, and a commitment to investing in state-of-the-art technology and process development."

KPS Capital Partners, LP is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of private equity funds with over $2.8 billion of assets under management focused on constructive investing in corporate carve-outs, restructurings and other special situations.