Archives for May 13, 2015

Serruya Private Equity Acquires Tivoli Audio

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Toronto-based Serruya Private Equity (SPE) has acquired Tivoli Audio, a maker and designer of consumer electronics. Tivoli Audio will serve as the flagship consumer electronics brand of SPE, a family-managed private equity firm that oversees the investment activities of the Serruya family.

Tivoli Audio emphasizes simple and functional designs and are characterized by their absence of redundant switches, knobs or lights. The company’s products include radios and other sound reproduction equipment as well as compact disc players, speakers, carry-bags and noise cancelling headphones.  Tivoli’s products are sold in the US, UK, Canada, Germany and more than 45 other countries.  Tivoli Audio was founded in 2000 by Tom DeVesto and is headquartered in Boston (www.tivoliaudio.com).

“We are thrilled to add Tivoli Audio to our family of premium consumer brands. Tivoli not only exemplifies the relevance of thoughtful design, but is as great sounding as it looks,” said Michael Serruya, CEO of SPE.  “We purchased Tivoli Audio to build on its position as an iconic global brand in the US, Europe and Asia and on the company’s reputation for bringing to market outstanding design and top-tier audio performance.”

The Serruya family acquired its wealth through the actions of brothers Aaron, Michael and Simon Serruya who founded the frozen yogurt chain Yogen Früz in 1986.  The brothers also built Coolbrands International, a consumer packaged goods conglomerate, into the third largest frozen dessert manufacturer in North America after Unilever and Nestle. Today, SPE invests in companies that have strong brand names and that operate in the consumer products, restaurant, hotel, and financial services sectors.  SPE’s portfolio of brands has over $1.5 billion in system-wide revenues.  SPE is headquartered in the Toronto suburb of Markham (www.serruyaprivateequity.com).

New York-based investment bank Levy Capital Partners (www.levycp.com) served as the exclusive financial advisor to Tivoli Audio.

2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-13-15

Webster Capital Acquires Mondetta

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Webster Capital has acquired Mondetta Canada, a designer and manufacturer of casual and athletic apparel.

Mondetta Canada has three operating units: Mondetta – casual apparel; MPG (Mondetta Performance Gear) – athletic and outerwear apparel sold to multi-sport athletes; and a private label division.  The company’s products are sold through retailers across the globe under its own brands as well as through MPG branded stores in Canada and South Korea.  Mondetta Canada was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Winnipeg (www.mondetta.com) (www.mpgsport.com).

“We are excited about the opportunity to work with a leading established company in the activewear industry,” said Donald Steiner, Webster Capital Managing Partner. “We think the MPG brand offers a differentiated product line to what is currently available on the market in that it combines both quality performance fabrics with leading fashion styles. MPG is well-poised to take advantage of the continuing growth in consumer demand for elevated active and casualwear.”

Webster Capital invests in branded consumer, business- to-business, and healthcare services companies with revenues of $20 million to $100 million and EBITDAs from $2 million to $15 million. Transaction values typically range from $30 million to $100 million. The firm was founded in 2003 and is based in Waltham, MA (www.webstercapital.com).

“We are looking forward to working with Webster Capital. Besides their financial acumen, the Webster team brings to the table a group of individuals who understands the consumer product space, and more importantly, the changing face of retail and the distribution strategies around it,” said Co-founder and CEO, Ash Modha.  “Our experience in structuring this transaction has only reinforced how our values and synergies line up.”

KPMG (www.kpmg.com) was the exclusive financial adviser to Mondetta Canada for this transaction.

2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-13-15

Marlin Acquires Fidelis Cybersecurity, Completes First Add-On

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Marlin Equity Partners has quickly added-on to Fidelis Cybersecurity – its IT security platform – with the purchase of Resolution1 Security, a provider of threat detection and incident response cybersecurity products.

Fidelis – acquired by Marlin on May 4th from General Dynamics – offers a portfolio of products and services that protect companies from data theft, financial loss and reputational damage. The company’s flagship product is Fidelis XPS that detects and prevents initial malware infections and also prevents the subsequent spread of malware and theft of information from within an organization. Fidelis is led by its CEO Peter George and is headquartered outside of Boston in Waltham, MA (www.fidelissecurity.com).

“We acquired Fidelis because it is uniquely positioned to help customers protect their data and assets against adversaries across the entire threat lifecycle, from intrusion to propagation to exfiltration, in one fully integrated solution,” said Peter Chung, a principal at Marlin. “We are thrilled to provide the resources and financial backing to grow Fidelis and solidify its position at the forefront of the rapidly evolving advanced threat defense, and incident response and forensics markets.”

Resolution1 Security – Fidelis’ first add-on acquisition – provides cybersecurity detection and resolution systems to Fortune 500 companies in the retail, financial services, energy & oil, and government industries. The company was spun off from Access Data Group – a provider of cybersecurity, digital forensics and e-discovery – in January 2015.  Resolution1 is headquartered north of Provo in Lindon, UT and has additional offices in Washington DC; New York; Houston; and San Francisco (www.resolution1security.com).

“Resolution1’s continuous and automated endpoint threat detection and remediation engine addresses one of the largest issues in cybersecurity today – the disproportionate number of incidents that security analysts must manually respond to in the enterprise,” said Mr. Chung.  “With the buy of Resolution1, Fidelis now can offer one of the most comprehensive and powerful advanced threat solutions in the market across both the network and endpoint.”

Marlin Equity Partners invests in businesses that have revenues of $20 million to $1 billion and that are in the process of undergoing varying degrees of operational, financial or market-driven change. Sectors of interest include technology, healthcare, consumer products and services, business services, manufacturing, aerospace & defense, distribution & logistics, and media. The firm has $2.6 billion of capital under management. Marlin is headquartered in Los Angeles with an additional office in London (www.marlinequity.com).

2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-13-15

Leerink Hires Healthcare Pros from Lazard

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Healthcare-focused investment bank Leerink Partners has expanded its investment banking activities with the hiring of four senior bankers and their teams from Lazard Middle Market. All four of the new team members will be based in Leerink’s newly formed Charlotte, NC office which will have a total staff of ten investment banking professionals.

Joining Leerink are Doug Brown, Senior Managing Director, who will lead the healthcare services and private equity coverage franchises at Leerink; Mike Drendel, Managing Director, will lead the specialty & generic pharmaceuticals franchise; Jeff Danesis, Director, will focus on healthcare services; and Byron Webster, Director, will focus on specialty & generic pharmaceuticals.

During Mr. Brown’s and Mr. Drendel’s six years at Lazard, they advised clients on over 25 transactions, representing $8 billion in aggregate deal value.  Both bankers will report to Jim Boylan, President and Head of Investment Banking of Leerink.

“We are thrilled to welcome Doug, Mike and their teams to Leerink Partners. They are exceptional investment bankers, with strong client relationships, who differentiate themselves through their knowledge and substance-based approach to advising clients,” said Mr. Boylan. “After record revenues and growth in 2013 and 2014, we have been focused on expanding our investment banking footprint.”

Leerink Partners was formerly known as Leerink Swann and changed its name to Leerink Partners in January 2014. The firm was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Boston with additional offices in New York, San Francisco, and Charlotte (www.leerink.com).

Prior to joining Leerink, Doug Brown was a Managing Director at Lazard for six years serving as the Middle Market Healthcare Group Head. His notable transactions at Lazard include the sale of Solstas Lab Partners to Quest Diagnostics, the sale of Genova Diagnostics to Levine Leichtmann, and the sale of National Surgical Hospitals to Irving Place Capital.  Prior to Lazard, he was a Managing Director at Wachovia Securities, focused on healthcare services. Mr. Brown earned his MBA from Duke and his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas.

“We are excited to have joined Leerink Partners, which will prove to be the ideal platform to serve our clients,” said Mr. Brown. “Given the firm’s exclusive focus in healthcare and its market leading equity capital markets platform, it is the perfect complement to our business, which has been focused on owner/operator and private equity owned healthcare companies. Furthermore, we will grow our practices to include innovative and growth-minded publicly traded healthcare companies.”

Prior to joining Leerink, Mike Drendel was a Managing Director at Lazard and spent six years advising specialty pharmaceuticals companies.  Prior to Lazard, he worked in the healthcare investment banking group at Wachovia Securities on a variety of advisory and corporate finance transactions. Mr. Drendel earned his MBA from the University of Chicago and his bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Notre Dame.

“My focus in specialty & generic pharmaceuticals is a natural extension of Leerink’s prominent biopharma investment banking franchise,” said Mr. Drendel. “We look forward to leveraging the resources of the firm and believe that our transaction experience and industry relationships will further distinguish the Leerink Partners investment banking franchise.”

Jeff Danesis joins Leerink from Lazard where he was a Director in the Healthcare Group. Prior to Lazard, he was an Associate at Wachovia Securities in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group. He earned his MBA from the University of Chicago and his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University.

Byron Webster joins Leerink from Lazard where he was Vice President in the Healthcare Group. Prior to Lazard, he spent seven years in the Healthcare Investment Banking group at Wells Fargo Securities. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Wake Forest University.

2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-13-15

Christina Pai Makes Partner

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Fort Point Capital has promoted Christina Pai to Partner at the firm.  Ms. Pai joined Fort Point as a Vice President in 2011 from Swift River Investments where she was active in acquiring lower middle-market companies.  Before Swift River, Ms. Pai started her career with FdG Associates, a New York-based private equity firm.

“Christina has made an extraordinary contribution to Fort Point in the past 4 years, actively identifying new investment opportunities and guiding our existing portfolio,” said Paul Lipson, Partner of Fort Point Capital.  “We have great confidence in her abilities and look forward to having her become even more deeply engaged in the management of the firm.”

Ms. Pai graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in economics. She currently serves on the boards of Church Services; EPM, Inc.; Sullivan, Inc.; and Van Pool Transportation, where she also serves as Chairperson.

Fort Point Capital invests from $5 million to $25 million in service-oriented, lower middle-market companies across a range of sectors, including business services, healthcare, consumer, and software & information. Fort Point Capital is currently investing from FPC Small Cap Fund I and is based in Boston (www.fortpointcapital.com).

2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-13-15

Abacus Backs Fulham’s Buy of Alkota Cleaning Systems

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Abacus Finance Group was the Administrative Agent and Joint Lead Arranger for $16 million in senior secured credit facilities to back the just-closed acquisition of Alkota Cleaning Systems by Fulham & Co.  Alkota was a portfolio company of Bradford Equities which acquired the company in March 2006 from Spell Capital.

“The Abacus team provided steadfast support throughout an extended process,” said John Fulham III, Managing Partner of Fulham & Co.  “We were really impressed by the way they rolled-up their sleeves and dug in to get a thorough understanding of a somewhat unusual business, and that makes Abacus a go-to lender for us.”

Alkota Cleaning Systems manufactures and markets pressure washers and cleaning equipment. Products include industrial hot pressure washers, cold pressure washers, steam cleaners, waste water treatment systems, power parts washers, space heaters, and water heaters.  The company also provides detergents that are used in cleaning applications in the transportation specialties, institutional, and food preparation sectors.  Alkota was founded in 1964 and is based 50 miles south of Sioux Falls in Alcester, SD (www.alkota.com).

“Alkota is an excellent company in a niche industry, and while it took longer than expected to close the transaction, John and his partners were highly committed to making the investment from the outset. The operating resources Fulham provides will prove to be terrific support for the company,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus Finance. “Having the client acknowledge that they found us easy to work with is a great compliment to our team, and that kind of support on our part is a critical ingredient in what we call our Total Partnership Approach.”

Working with Mr. Clifford on this transaction were Vice President, Eric Petersen and Analyst, Joseph Lee.

Abacus was formed in June 2011 and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust, the holding company for Emigrant Bank, founded in 1850, the largest privately held bank in America with approximately $10 billion in assets. Abacus is based in New York (www.abacusfinance.com).

Fulham & Co. invests in manufacturing companies that sell highly engineered commercial products that are leaders in their niche and have $2 million to $6 million of EBITDA. The firm was founded in 1984 and has $280 million of capital under management. Fulham & Co. is based in Wellesley, MA (www.fulhamco.com).

2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-13-15