Armored AutoGroup, a manufacturer of car care products primarily under the Armor All and STP brands and a portfolio company of Avista Capital Partners, has acquired IDQ Acquisition Corp. from Kinderhook Industries. Avista Capital Partners acquired Armored AutoGroup in 2010 from Clorox.
IDQ is a manufacturer of do-it-yourself air conditioner recharge products. Products include air conditioning recharge and retrofit kits, premium refrigerant blends, specialty chemicals, straight refrigerants and a range of complementary do-it-yourself and professional-use items. IDQ products are branded under labels including A/C PRO, Arctic Freeze, Sub Zero and Super Seal Stop Leak and are sold through approximately 25,000 retail stores. IDQ is headquartered just outside of Dallas in Garland, TX. The company also has an office in Tarrytown, NY that houses financial functions, marketing, R&D, customer service, and sales (www.idqusa.com).
In connection with the transaction, Dave Lundstedt, who has served as Chairman and CEO of Armored AutoGroup since its separation from Clorox in 2010, will be named Chairman of the combined business and Michael Klein, CEO of IDQ, will be named CEO. Guy Andrysick, Executive Vice President of Armored AutoGroup, will be Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing of the combined business. Gerry Rooney, Chief Financial Officer of IDQ, will serve as Executive Vice President of Operations and lead integration efforts. Andy Bolt, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Armored AutoGroup, will serve as Executive Vice President and CFO of the combined business.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the combined Armored AutoGroup and IDQ. The unified company is well-positioned to deliver value to our customers, employees and financial stakeholders through our industry-leading product portfolio, including the iconic Armor All and STP brands as well as A/C PRO, Arctic Freeze and Sub Zero,” said Mr. Klein. “Leveraging Armored AutoGroup’s international infrastructure will help to drive actionable, near-term growth opportunities for IDQ’s products. As we begin to execute upon our growth strategy for the combined business, I am grateful to have the benefit of Dave Lundstedt’s counsel, given his long history of success in the automotive aftermarket industry.”
Jefferies (www.jefferies.com) acted as the sole financial advisor and solicitation agent to IDQ in this transaction. According to Jeffries, the sale of IDQ to Armored AutoGroup represents a franchise-building transaction for Jefferies’ Consumer practice and demonstrates the value of Jefferies’ strategic and sponsor relationships and the firm’s ability to leverage its creativity and capabilities on behalf of its clients.
JPMorgan (www.jpmorgan.com) and BTG Pactual (www.btgpactual.com) advised Armored AutoGroup on the transaction.
Avista Capital Partners, with over $5 billion of capital under management, makes control or influential minority investments in growth-oriented energy, healthcare, communications & media, industrials, and consumer businesses. The firm was founded in 2005 and is based in New York with offices in Houston and London (www.avistacap.com).
“This transaction represents another important step toward realizing our vision for Armored AutoGroup by creating one of the largest and best-positioned consumer products companies in the automotive aftermarket,” said David Burgstahler, Partner and President of Avista, and David Durkin, Partner of Avista, in a released statement.
Kinderhook Industries makes control investments in companies with transaction values of $10 million to $75 million in which the firm can achieve financial, operational and growth improvements. Kinderhook pursues private equity investments in non-core divisions of public companies, management buyouts of entrepreneurial-owned businesses, troubled situations and existing small capitalization companies lacking institutional support. The firm, founded in 2003, has $770 million of committed capital and is based in New York (www.kinderhook.com).
“Kinderhook is very proud of the accomplishments of IDQ’s management team and employees, led by Michael Klein and Gerry Rooney, during our partnership with them, and we expect the company to continue to flourish as part of Armored AutoGroup. The sale of IDQ illustrates Kinderhook’s investment strategy of partnering with strong management teams to build successful companies that attract high-quality strategic buyers,” said Chris Michalik and Tom Tuttle, Managing Directors at Kinderhook.
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-18-14