Archives for May 31, 2013

Teakwood Capital Invests in Marketing Advocate

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Teakwood Capital has made a growth capital investment in Marketing Advocate, a sales lead generating platform for technology companies and their channel resellers.

Marketing Advocate offers a SaaS marketing automation platform that is used by technology companies and their channel resellers to execute multi-touch marketing programs that track, score, nurture, and qualify sales leads. The company is based in Centerville, MA (www.marketingadvocate.com).

“The investment from Teakwood Capital allows us to rapidly scale our sales and services team to exploit the strong competitive advantage we have created in the technology demand generation marketplace,” said Gary Morris, CEO and founder of Marketing Advocate.

“Teakwood Capital’s investment in Marketing Advocate provides the opportunity to partner with a management team with deep domain expertise, clear demonstration of customer success, all provisioned on a strong and competitively differentiated SaaS technology platform,” said Ed Olkkola, Managing Director at Teakwood Capital. “Our customer reference checks confirmed they truly have ‘raving fans’ for the software and services they provide. We look forward to working closely with the company to fully realize their outstanding growth potential.”

Teakwood Capital invests equity capital primarily in businesses with $500,000 to $3 million of EBITDA and typically in technology enabled business-to-business companies. The firm focuses on management buyouts as well as control growth equity investments. The firm was founded in 2005 and is based in Dallas (www.teakwoodcapital.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-31-13

Summit Partners Invests in RuffaloCODY

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Summit Partners has made an investment in RuffaloCODY, a provider of fundraising and enrollment management services.

“This commitment by Summit Partners will assist RuffaloCODY with plans to significantly expand our national and international presence and extend service offerings in both existing and new markets,” said Duane Jasper, RuffaloCODY President and CEO. “Summit’s experience working with high-growth organizations like RuffaloCODY will help accelerate our cutting-edge development and innovation.”

RuffaloCODY is a provider of technology-enabled fundraising and enrollment management services for higher education and high affinity-based nonprofit organizations. RuffaloCODY serves more than 900 nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education. The company has approximately 500 employees and was founded in 1991. The company is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, IA (www.ruffalocody.com).

RuffaloCODY recently announced plans to move into a new 88,000-square-foot-facility to house all Cedar Rapids operations and provide space for the anticipated growth from 500 to 800 full-time staff over the next few years.

“We are investing in a strong management team, a compelling business model, and a market-leading company,” said Len Ferrington, a Principal with Summit Partners who will be joining the RuffaloCODY Board, along with Summit Managing Director C.J. Fitzgerald.

Summit Partners provides private equity and venture capital for growth companies. Founded in 1984, Summit has raised more than $15 billion in capital and has provided equity, recapitalization, and management buyout financing to more than 365 companies across a range of industries. Summit Partners has offices in Boston, Palo Alto, London, and Mumbai (www.summitpartners.com).

Lazard Middle Market advised RuffaloCODY on this transaction.

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-31-13

CEO of Oreck Joins CCMP as New Advisor

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CCMP Capital Advisors has hired Doug Cahill as an Executive Advisor. He will be responsible for focusing on investment opportunities in the consumer and industrial sectors. Mr. Cahill has more than 25 years of experience growing consumer-focused and industrial companies, most recently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Oreck, the Nashville-based manufacturer of upright vacuums and cleaning products, from 2010 until March 2013.

Prior to joining Oreck, Mr. Cahill served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Doane Pet Care Company, a private label manufacturer of pet food and a former CCMP portfolio company. Under his leadership, Doane’s sales more than tripled through organic growth and acquisitions, and the company was transformed from a regional private label pet food manufacturer to a global pet food supplier with 37 plants in the United States and Europe. In 2005, Mr. Cahill led the sale of Doane to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund for $875 million and in 2006, Mr. Cahill spearheaded the company’s sale to Mars for $1.2 billion, retaining leadership through both transactions. As part of Mars, Mr. Cahill grew the U.S. Petcare business from $1.7 billion to $4 billion in three years.

“We are delighted that Doug is joining our team as an Executive Advisor, bringing over two decades of senior management experience as well as a wealth of hands-on operational knowledge of consumer and industrial businesses to CCMP,” said Rich Zannino, Managing Director of CCMP Capital and co-head of CCMP’s consumer/retail practice. “We have had the pleasure of partnering with Doug in our previous investment in Doane and we were highly impressed by his leadership and the substantial value he created there. Doug will be focused on adding value to our portfolio companies and working with us to identify and pursue new investment opportunities in our consumer/retail and industrial sectors.”

Prior to joining Doane in 1997, Mr. Cahill spent 13 years at Olin Corporation, a manufacturer of metal and chemicals, where he served in a variety of managerial and executive roles. During his tenure as Worldwide General Manager of Olin’s pool chemical business, Mr. Cahill led the company through a dramatic growth period, turning around a business that was losing $3 million per month to a business with $60 million in EBITDA in only two years.

“CCMP is a world-class firm with a strong track record of pursuing unique investment opportunities, building successful businesses and creating value for its investors,” said Mr. Cahill. “I am excited to work alongside Rich and the talented team at CCMP to play a meaningful role in the firm’s continued success.”

CCMP Capital Advisors specializes in making buyout and growth equity investments in the United States and Europe. CCMP Capital typically invests $100 million to $500 million of equity per transaction in companies with enterprise values of $500 million to $2 billion. Sectors of interest include consumer/retail, industrial, healthcare, and energy. The firm is headquartered in New York (www.ccmpcapital.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-31-13

Harris Williams Advises TA Associates on Latest Sale

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Harris Williams & Co. was the exclusive advisor to Alma Lasers, a portfolio company of TA Associates, on its recent sale to Fosun International at an enterprise value of $220 million.

Alma Lasers is a manufacturer of medical and cosmetic energy-based (including light, laser, radio frequency and ultrasound) devices. TA Associates invested in Alma in March 2006. The company is headquartered in Caesarea, Israel and has a US office in Buffalo Grove, IL (www.almalasers.com).

The transaction closed on May 27 and was led by Thierry Monjauze, Julien Darmon, Francois Morin and Alex Murrill from Harris Williams & Co.’s London office along with Turner Bredrup from the firm’s Healthcare and Life Sciences Group. Harris Williams & Co. provides sell-side and acquisition advisory, restructuring advisory, board advisory, private placements and capital markets advisory services. The firm is part of the PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC). Harris Williams & Co. is headquartered in Richmond, VA (www.harriswilliams.com).

“The acquisition of Alma Lasers by Fosun International is the largest technology-focused investment in Israel by a Chinese acquirer and represents a landmark transaction. We were delighted to work with the management of Alma Lasers and TA Associates on the sale. The management team and TA Associates have built an exceptionally high quality platform by focusing on delivering innovative multi-application treatment systems that offer considerable value to aesthetic and medical practitioners,” said Thierry Monjauze, managing director at Harris Williams & Co.

Fosun Group is one of the largest private holding companies in China with $25.8 billion of total assets and $12.5 billion of assets under management. Fosun has holdings in diverse sectors ranging from pharmaceuticals and property to financial services. The company is headquartered in Shanghai (www.fosun.com).

“Following the transaction, Fosun International will leverage Alma Lasers’ market-leading product portfolio to drive growth globally and capitalize on the strong underlying market drivers for aesthetic and medical energy-based devices. The transaction also demonstrates the increasingly international appetite of Chinese strategic acquirers for high quality middle market businesses,” said Julien Darmon, managing director at Harris Williams & Co.

TA Associates makes buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the technology, financial services, business services, healthcare and consumer industries. Since founding in 1968, TA has invested in over 425 companies globally and has raised more than $18 billion in capital. The firm was founded in 1968 and has offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong (www.ta.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-31-13