Wind Point Partners has signed an agreement to sell its portfolio company Argotec to publicly traded Schweitzer-Mauduit International for $280 million in cash.
Argotec is a manufacturer of specialty polyurethane film and sheet used in a variety of niche applications, including surface protection and impact resistant glass. In addition to flat-die, cast-on-carrier and blown-film-extrusion technologies, Argotec has expertise in extrusion coating, multi-layer constructions and closed-cell polyurethane foam sheet extrusion. The company is based in Greenfield, MA (www.argotec.com).
Argotec has annual revenues of approximately $115 million and an EBITDA margin of almost 20%. This yields a purchase price multiple on this transaction of above 12x.
Wind Point Partners acquired Argotec in partnership with Guy Broadbent in May 2013. Prior to joining Argotec as CEO, Mr. Broadbent was the CEO of Xcellerex, an early stage bio-manufacturing platform backed by Kleiner Perkins. Prior to Xcellerex, he was president of the $1.8 billion Laboratory Products Group at ThermoFisher Scientific.
“Over the past two years we created significant value at Argotec by launching new products, pursuing sales in new markets including medical films and graphic films, and significantly expanding our footprint geographically. Wind Point has been an involved and supportive partner throughout,” said Mr. Broadbent.
Wind Point Partners invests from $20 million to $70 million of equity in companies with revenues from $100 million to $500 million and EBITDAs of at least $8 million. Industries of interest include business services, consumer products, healthcare and industrial products. The firm has approximately $2.5 billion in capital under management. Wind Point Partners was founded in 1984 and is based in Chicago (www.wppartners.com).
“We have had a great partnership with Guy and the whole Argotec team during our ownership. They have done an excellent job enhancing Argotec’s product capabilities and expanding into other markets,” said Paul Peterson, a managing director at Wind Point.
Schweitzer-Mauduit International (NYSE: SWM) manufactures and sells paper and reconstituted tobacco products to the tobacco industry worldwide. The company also manufactures specialty papers for use in other applications. Schweitzer-Mauduit was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, GA (www.swmintl.com).
Moelis & Company was the exclusive financial advisor to Schweitzer-Mauduit.
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 9-22-15
