AM General CEO Andy Hove on KPS Deal, Humvees

Private equity firm KPS Capital Partners announced in July that it agreed to acquire AM General and Andy Hove, president and CEO of the military vehicle maker, told Defense News in an interview published Thursday that KPS is confident in AM General’s capabilities and strategy.

“They’re confident in our business and the growth prospects of AM General. They feel good about and stand behind our strategy, and we’re going to work together with them,” Hove said of KPS.

He mentioned AM General’s focus on addressing complex mobility challenges and investments in the Hawkeye, base automotive systems and automotive platforms that have a special use.

Hove shared his insights on the Army’s request for information about the possible replacement of its heavy trucks and the service’s recapitalization of its fleet of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles or Humvees.

“They’ve been buying new-built Humvees to replace old Humvees over the last four years at a pretty heavy clip and have announced their intention to continue to do that going forward,” he said. “We’re obviously going to focus on the Humvee because there’s significant demand.”