Because the buyers are here. Charlotte is a major banking center with an unusual local density of private equity funds, family offices, acquisition lenders, and search funders, alongside a deep regional manufacturing base.
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Proximity changes a sale process in practical ways. Buyers who can visit a plant within an hour do so earlier and more often, which shortens the time from first conversation to indication of interest. Lenders familiar with the regional manufacturing base underwrite more comfortably. And a competitive process is easier to build when there are more qualified buyers within driving distance, which matters because the difference between one interested buyer and four is usually the difference between accepting a price and setting one. The same density has a downside worth managing: the community is small enough that word travels, which is why confidentiality discipline matters more here, not less.