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Family-office backed · Buy-and-build · Aerospace MRO

A lasting home for the shops that keep aircraft flying.

SF Aerospace partners with founder- and family-owned FAA Part 145 repair stations across engine component repair, teardown & USM, coatings, and overhaul. In most cases your name stays over the door — along with your team and your standards — and we give them room to grow.

Start a confidential conversation → See what we look for
FAA Part 145 AS9100 / AS9110 Commercial + Defense Strictly confidential

We are a family-office–backed platform assembling specialist MRO groups — component repair, teardown & USM, coatings & process, engine overhaul, and parts manufacturing — one respected shop at a time.

We are long-term owners, not brokers and not a strip-and-flip fund. Our team comes from aviation and operations, backed by patient family-office capital. When we acquire a business, we keep the name over the door, invest behind the people who built it, and add the resources a founder-run shop rarely has time to build — finance, systems, quality, and business development.

The result is continuity for your customers and your crew, and a bigger platform your work becomes part of.

Founders

Brothers and serial platform builders, bringing a proven buy-and-build playbook to aerospace MRO.

Ned Schwing

Ned Schwing

Co-Founder

Ned Schwing is a serial entrepreneur with decades of experience leading numerous businesses. He co-founded National Cardiovascular Partners, a national footprint of physician and hospital JV’s, from start-up through growth phase, adding Bain Capital as a partner through its successful exit. He co-founded 8 other start-up ventures through their successful exits over the past 30 years. Recognized as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Outstanding Texas Entrepreneur by the Texas State House of Representatives, graduate of the University of Texas MBA program and a graduate of Harvard’s Owner/President Management Program, Ned continues to drive innovation and growth.

Robert Schwing

Robert Schwing

Co-Founder

Robert Schwing is a wide-ranging entrepreneur who has spent more than three decades launching and scaling companies across multiple industries. With his brother, he built National Cardiovascular Partners into a nationwide network of physician and hospital joint ventures, partnered with Bain Capital, and carried it through to a successful sale. He has taken eight additional startups from founding to profitable exit, operating as CEO of several along the way, and remains an active builder of new ventures today. The common thread across his ventures is a simple one — backing strong teams, investing for the long term, and building companies designed to endure well beyond the initial deal.

Partners

Partners grounded in military service and hands-on operating experience.

Ford Schwing

Partner

Ford Schwing is a Partner at Selous Partners, a real estate investment company focused on acquisitions across the southeastern United States. Ford served eight years across multiple branches and roles in the U.S. armed forces, including three years as an Air Force medic and finishing as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, leading units of up to 300 Marines and Sailors. His service included an overseas deployment to Western Africa and a posting as sole liaison to the U.S. Navy. After his military service, Ford worked in construction management in Charlotte before founding Selous Partners. He is a 2015 graduate of Wake Forest University.

John Barr

Partner

John Barr is a U.S. Army Special Forces officer with 13 years of military service. He has served as a Detachment Commander with 5th Special Forces Group and 20th Special Forces Group with deployments to Syria and Central Asia, where he led combat operations and built strategic security partnerships. John holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from West Point and an MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

~$190B
Commercial MRO by 2030
Industry estimates put the global market near $190B by 2030 — roughly half of it engines.
28K+
CFM56 & V2500 engines
Decades of shop-visit demand ahead — for exactly the kind of work your shop already does.
1000s
Independent Part 145 shops
A fragmented base of specialists where the scarce, high-skill repair work actually lives.

Figures are industry estimates, shown for context only.

01 / The platform

Focused on the aftermarket that endures

We concentrate on the mature commercial turbofan — the CFM56 and V2500 narrowbody fleets and the widebody platforms beside them — where shop-visit demand runs for decades and the specialized repairs stay with independents. Defense runs through the same Part 145 shops: high-volume military engines — the F108 (KC-135, E-3, E-6), F117 (C-17), TF34 (A-10), and TF33 (B-52, JSTARS) — are core platforms for the group as well.

Component & accessory

Component & Accessory Repair

Airfoils, cases, gearboxes, fuel and hydromechanical accessories — the high-skill repairs that define a shop.

Teardown / USM

Teardown & USM

Disassembly, inspection, and used-serviceable material with full back-to-birth traceability.

Coatings / process

Coatings & Process

Thermal spray, plating, heat treat, NDT, and welding — the process capabilities others depend on.

Overhaul & test

Engine Overhaul & Test

Module and full-engine overhaul, backed by correlated test-cell capability.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing of Parts & Components

New-make parts and components — including APU and landing-gear hardware — manufactured to spec and fully traceable.

02 / Who we partner with

The shops we're looking for

If you built something real in the engine aftermarket, we'd like to meet you. A strong fit usually looks like this — but the surest way to know is a conversation.

A strong fit looks like
  • FAA Part 145 repair station — AS9100 / AS9110 a plus.
  • Founder- or family-owned — often facing succession or a transition.
  • Profitable & well-regarded — a loyal customer base and a skilled, tenured team.
  • Real capability — component repair, teardown/USM, coatings/process, overhaul, or field service.
  • Turbofan and/or defense work — CFM56, V2500, CF6, and their defense applications.
  • A reputation for quality — on-time delivery and clean audit history.
We're flexible on
  • Size — from small specialty shops to established mid-market platforms.
  • Your role — transition, or stay and grow with a rollover stake.
  • Back-office maturity — clean or in-progress systems; we bring the infrastructure.
  • Timeline — ready now, or planning a handoff a few years out.
  • Geography — U.S.-based, near your customers and skilled labor.

Not sure you fit? Reach out anyway — and if you know a shop that might, an introduction is the highest compliment in this industry.

03 / Why SF Aerospace

Your legacy, in careful hands

Selling the business you built is personal. The commitments that matter — your name, your team, reinvestment — go into the purchase agreement, not just a handshake.

01

Keep your name

Your brand and reputation are assets we build on — not paint over. In most cases the name stays over the door.

02

Take care of your people

Your shop floor stays — the technicians, inspectors, and certifiers are the business, and they're why we're buying. We invest in the crew, their tooling, and their ratings, and add finance and systems support around them.

03

Growth, not extraction

We reinvest in capacity, new ratings, and capabilities to make the business stronger — not to strip it for parts.

04

A confidential, direct process

No broker auction, no parade of tire-kickers. One serious counterpart and a straight answer.

05

Flexible structures

Full sale, majority with rollover, or a gradual transition — terms built around what you actually want.

06

Certainty of close

Backed by family-office capital and a small, decisive team. Once terms are agreed, we move to close efficiently — no drawn-out financing contingencies.

04 / Our approach

A straightforward path, on your timeline

Four steps, minimal disruption, and respect for your time at every one. Most conversations move in weeks — and we close as fast as FAA and your customers' approvals allow.

01

Confidential conversation

A private call to understand your business and your goals. We sign an NDA before anything sensitive is shared — you don't have to ask.

02

Offer & structure

A clear, fair proposal with terms built around what you want — cash, rollover equity, or a phased transition.

03

Close with certainty

Committed capital and tight, well-run diligence. When we shake hands, the deal gets done.

04

Grow together

Continuity for your team and customers from day one, plus the resources to reach the next level of the platform.

Capital partners

Co-invest in the aftermarket's durable middle

We selectively partner with co-investors and lenders who understand aerospace-aftermarket economics — asset-backed inventory, defense-qualified capabilities, and a fragmented supply base built for disciplined consolidation. If that's the kind of platform you want exposure to, we should talk.

Common questions

Questions founders ask us

Will you keep my company's name and brand?
In most cases, yes. Your name is a reason customers trust you — we build on that equity rather than erase it. Where a shared identity helps down the road, we make that change with you, not to you.
What happens to my employees?
Your shop floor stays. The skilled technicians, inspectors, and certifiers are the business — we invest in the team (tooling, training, added ratings) and build finance and systems support around them, protecting the culture that produced the quality in the first place.
Do I have to leave after a sale?
Only if you want to. Some owners are ready to retire; others want to keep building with a partner and roll equity into the larger platform. We design the transition around your plans, not ours.
How confidential is this?
Completely. Early conversations are held in strict confidence and covered by an NDA — you don't have to ask. Your customers, competitors, and team hear nothing until you decide the time is right.
What size of business do you partner with?
We're flexible — from small, high-skill specialty shops to established mid-market repair stations. Capability, reputation, and fit matter more to us than a revenue threshold, so it's worth a conversation either way.
Are you brokers or private equity?
Neither in the usual sense. We're a family-office–backed operating platform buying to build and hold, not a broker taking a fee or a fund on a short clock. You deal directly with the people who will own the business.
Start here

Start a confidential conversation

Whether you're ready now or just exploring what's next, a first call costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

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Office Houston, Texas
Best for Owners of FAA Part 145 engine-MRO shops & prospective capital partners
Everything you share is held in strict confidence. We'll sign an NDA before any sensitive details change hands.

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