Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company (HKW) has acquired three new companies with the closings on July 31, 2014 of R.S.T. Instruments Ltd., Workhorse Rail, LLC, and Steel City Rail, LLC. According to HKW the three closings in one day constitutes a record in HKW’s 111 year history.
“We are extremely pleased with these three acquisitions and the HKW deal teams who made it happen,” said Glenn Scolnik, Chairman of HKW. “It was a historic day for the firm, and we believe it demonstrates our ability to buy quality companies at reasonable prices in the current ‘pro-seller’ environment. Although too early to celebrate, we also signed a new letter of intent to acquire another company on this same day.”
R.S.T. Instruments is a manufacturer and marketer of geotechnical measurement instruments which serve a variety of end markets, including oil and gas, utility, mining and infrastructure. The company’s products include inclinometers, data loggers, and vibrating wire. RST is headquartered near Vancouver in Maple Ridge, BC (www.rstinstruments.com).
Workhorse Rail is a manufacturer and supplier of freight car parts for the North American rail industry. Workhorse’s products, which include certified steel castings and forgings, as well as machined, formed, and fabricated metal parts, are sold to railroads and railcar builders. The company is headquartered in Pittsburgh (www.workhorserail.com).
The opportunity to purchase Workhorse was presented to HKW by Confluence Advisors, a business advisor based north of Pittsburgh in Wexford, PA (www.confluenceadvisorsllc.com).
Steel City Rail is a supplier of industry standard freight car parts. Steel City was an add-on acquisition for Workhorse and provides a complementary line of products. The company is headquartered in Wexford, PA (www.scrail.com).
Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company invests in companies with revenues between $20 million and $200 million and EBITDAs between $2 million and $20 million. Over the past 29 years, HKW has completed 46 platform management buyouts of small middle-market companies throughout North America as well as 51 add-on acquisitions. The firm was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Indianapolis with an additional office in New York (www.hkwinc.com).
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 8-12-14
