Dura Automotive for Sale?

Driver controls supplier Dura Automotive Systems Inc. is being shopped by owner Patriarch Partners LLC in a sale that could fetch $1 billion, sources tell Bloomberg News.

New York City-based Patriarch, which is owned by flamboyant financier Lynn Tilton, acquired Dura in 2010 for $120 million. Dura, which is based in Auburn Hills, Mich., generates about $90 million in pretax earnings. The company makes lightweight body and chassis parts, shift-by-wire electronics and mechatronic actuators.

Bloomberg says Tilton intends to sell of several of her holdings to pay down debt. Patriarch Partners currently holds stakes in more than 75 companies in 14 industrial sectors. Founded by Tilton in 2000, the firm says it has restructured more than 240 companies.

Patriarch is working with Jefferies Financial Group Inc. in a search for buyers, according to Bloomberg.