Harris Williams & Co. was the exclusive advisor to United Pipe & Steel on its recent acquisition by Morgenthaler Private Equity. The transaction was led by Bob Baltimore, a Managing Director at Harris Williams based in Boston. Bill Roman, Managing Director; Jay Hernandez, Director; and Matt Volinsky, Vice President, also worked on the transaction.
United Pipe & Steel (UP&S) is an independent master distributor of steel pipe, copper tubing, plastic pipe, electrical conduit and related products. The company currently serves wholesale distributor customers within the plumbing and heating; pipe, valve and fittings; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; waterworks and electrical supply markets. Founded in 1980, the company has nine distribution centers in the Northeast, Midwest and Southern regions of the United States and is headquartered in Ipswich, MA (www.united-pipe.com).
Harris Williams & Co. provides sell-side and acquisition advisory, restructuring advisory, board advisory, private placements and capital markets advisory services. The firm has eight offices across the US and Europe and approximately 215 employees. Harris Williams is part of the PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) and is headquartered in Richmond, VA (www.harriswilliams.com).
“United Pipe & Steel is truly a unique company whose master distributor business model allows it to play an increasingly important role for both OEMs and the fragmented wholesale distributor customer base,” said Mr. Baltimore. “The owners and management team of United Pipe & Steel have done a tremendous job building the company to be the market leader. In selecting Morgenthaler Private Equity as their partner, David Cohen (founder) and Greg Leidner (CEO) have chosen to work with a tremendous firm that will help facilitate their next phase of growth.”
Morgenthaler Private Equity invests in companies in the lower middle market that have transaction values between $25 million and $150 million and EBITDAs in excess of $5 million. Sectors of interest include high-value manufacturing and proprietary business services. The firm has offices in Cleveland and Boston (www.morgenthaler.com).
Senior debt financing for the acquisition was provided by Madison Capital Funding, as Administrative Agent and Joint Lead Arranger, and RBS Citizens, as Syndication Agent and Joint Lead Arranger. Northwestern Mutual Capital provided subordinated debt financing.
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-20-13