KPS Capital Goes on Offense Buying Humvee and Lawn Mower Makers

There’s something retro about KPS Capital Partners. The private equity firm earns money from companies that make actual things -- Humvees and golf clubs, treadmills and lawn mowers. They favor old-line iconic brands, they don’t use a lot of leverage and they don’t mind working with unions.

They’re also staying busy at a time when other PE firms have put big deals on hold. KPS is poised to buy Briggs & Stratton Corp., the bankrupt maker of landscaping equipment, and in the past three months the $11.4 billion firm purchased Baker Hughes Co.’s oil pump business and ...