ACON Investments has acquired Igloo Products, a manufacturer of hard-sided and soft-sided coolers, from J.H. Whitney. J.H. Whitney acquired Igloo in October 2008 and will maintain a small equity stake in the company. Igloo will continue to be led by Chairman and CEO Gary Kiedaisch and other members of the existing management team, who are also purchasing equity interests in Igloo in connection with the transaction.
“J.H. Whitney has been an excellent partner for Igloo’s initial growth strategy helping us achieve exceptional organic growth over the past five years. The entire Igloo management team is looking forward to working with ACON to further grow and leverage the extensive platform the company has established,” said Mr. Kiedaisch.
Igloo Products is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of both hard-sided and soft-sided coolers as well as other food and beverage storage products. The company sells more than 500 different products through more than 110,000 retail storefronts around the world. Igloo was founded in 1947 and is headquartered near Houston in Katy, TX (www.igloocoolers.com).
“We are excited to have the Igloo brand and its accomplished leadership team join ACON’s portfolio of companies,” said Ken Brotman, a Founding Partner of ACON. “The company has demonstrated solid performance through its long-tenured relationships with its customers and has built a strong foundation for continued success and expansion through its core products.”
ACON invests from $20 million to $150 million of equity capital in middle-market companies. The firm pursues a theme-based investment strategy by focusing on industries and businesses at key inflection points in their development and pursues these opportunities in partnership with established management teams. The firm was founded in 1996 and has offices in Washington, DC; Los Angeles; Mexico City; Sao Paulo; and Bogota (www.aconinvestments.com).
“ACON brings fresh capital and resources to Igloo, and their diversified portfolio and expertise provides Igloo with the ability to penetrate new markets and categories through product extensions and acquisitions. We are very excited about this new partnership with ACON and the benefits it will bring to our valued trade partners,” said Mr. Kiedaisch.
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-1-14
