Inverness Graham has sold its portfolio company RacoWireless to strategic acquirer KORE Wireless Group in an all-cash transaction. Inverness Graham acquired RacoWireless in September 2012.
RacoWireless is a provider of a cloud-based, machine-to-machine (M2M), wireless connectivity platform that is used by businesses to build, deploy, visualize, analyze and manage their “Internet of Things” and M2M systems. The company is headquartered north of Cincinnati in Blue Ash, OH (www.racowireless.com).
During Inverness Graham’s two-year term of ownership, RacoWireless executed an organic and acquisitive growth strategy that more than doubled revenue and increased EBITDA by over five times. Inverness Graham and management transformed the company from a pure-play Mobile Virtual Network Operator providing cellular connectivity services to a global Platform-as-a-Service provider, offering a suite of end market and hardware agnostic services for the Internet-of-Things.
“Our success with the RacoWireless investment highlights our focus on partnering with great management teams who lead companies in growing, attractive markets where focused organic and acquisitive growth can transform their business,” said Michael Morrissey, Managing Principal of Inverness Graham. “The strategic acquisition of Position Logic in July 2013 moved RacoWireless up the software stack and transformed its capabilities in the marketplace. Over our short hold, the company made key strategic investments in its networks, software development capability and team, building out a group of over fifty software engineers. This all occurred while delivering high double-digit top and bottom line growth, making it a very attractive target for strategic acquisition.”
Inverness Graham invests in lower middle market value-added manufacturing and service companies with EBITDA’s between $3 million and $10 million and enterprise values of less than $75 million. The firm manages $250 million in capital commitments and was formed by senior executives of the Graham Group, an industrial and investment concern with global interests in plastics, packaging, recycling, building products and outsourced manufacturing. Inverness Graham is based near Philadelphia in Newtown Square, PA (www.invernessgraham.com).
“The partnership with Inverness Graham worked extremely well,” said Rob Adams, CEO of RacoWireless. “The Internet-of-Things is a fragmented and complex industry. We wanted a partner who could support us as we executed a focused strategy in a dynamic and growing marketplace. Inverness provided more than just the capital to grow and make acquisitions, they were our partners every step of the way.”
Inverness Graham was represented by attorneys Paul Hastings and investment bank William Blair in the sale process.
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-12-14