Archives for October 6, 2015

Quad-C Exits A. Stucki

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Quad-C Management has sold A. Stucki Company, a supplier of new and reconditioned railcar components, to Stone Canyon Industries.

A. Stucki is active in the engineering, reconditioning, machining and manufacturing of railcar and industrial parts. Products include constant contact side bearings, resilient friction shoes, hydraulic stabilizers, draft gears, and brake beams. Through its subsidiaries the company also provides freight and locomotive component repair and reconditioning services; hot wound coiled spring manufacturing; high quality iron castings; precision CNC turning and milling; and custom molded urethane products. The company is led by CEO Bill Kiefer and CFO David Lendt.   A. Stucki was founded in 1911 and is headquartered near Pittsburgh in Moon Township, PA (www.stucki.com).

“We appreciated Quad-C’s knowledge of our industry and collaborative approach,” said Mr. Kiefer.  “Over the past five years, Quad-C has provided excellent support for our strategic initiatives and has invested capital to enable us to diversify our product offering, to expand geographically and to acquire complementary businesses.”

Quad-C invested in A. Stucki in 2010.  During its term of ownership A. Stucki more than doubled its revenues through a combination of organic growth and three add-on acquisitions.  “This was a terrific investment for Quad-C,” said Tony Ignaczak, President of Quad-C. “We backed a great team in the rail sector, where we had an active investment thesis and value creation strategy.”

Quad-C invests from $35 million to $125 million of equity in companies with enterprise values of $75 million to $400 million. Sectors of interest include business services, consumer, general industrial, healthcare, specialty distribution, and transportation & logistics.  Quad-C was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Charlottesville, VA (www.quadcmanagement.com).

Transportation and logistics is an area of focus for Quad-C and the A. Stucki investment is one of many investments Quad-C has made in this sector over the course of its twenty-six year history. Other current investments in the sector include third party logistic services companies Worldwide Express which was acquired in 2013 (www.wwex.com) and Network Global Logistics, acquired in 2012 (www.nglog.com).

Stone Canyon Industries, the buyer of A. Stucki, invests in companies valued between $50 million and $1 billion across a wide range of industries. The firm is led by Co-CEOs James Fordyce and Adam Cohn and is headquartered in Santa Monica (www.stonecanyonllc.com).

Harris Williams & Co. (www.harriswilliams.com) served as the exclusive financial advisor to A. Stucki. The transaction was led by Jason Bass, Joe Conner, Jeff Burkett, Jeff Kidd and Jay Beekman of the firm’s transportation & logistics group.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-6-15


 

Dunes Point Acquires Harvey Building Products

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Dunes Point Capital has acquired Harvey Building Products, a manufacturer of windows and doors and a distributor of other building products such as siding and roofing.

Harvey sells directly to professional contractors and builders.  The company has approximately 1,500 employees and operates two manufacturing facilities, 33 warehouses and 14 product showrooms. Harvey was founded in 1961 and is headquartered near Boston in Waltham, MA (www.harveybp.com).

Dunes Point Capital, through DPC Investment Partners, provided the controlling equity for the transaction. The debt for the transaction was provided by Franklin Square Capital Partners (www.franklinsquare.com); GSO Capital Partners (www.blackstone.com); Ladder Capital Finance (www.laddercapital.com); and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (www.baml.com).

Dunes Point Capital (DPC) is a family office and private investment firm that makes control investments in companies operating in the general industrial and energy sectors. DPC targets companies with enterprise values of up to $500 million.  DPC was founded in 2013 by Timothy White, a former Senior Managing Director of GSO Capital Partners and Blackstone where he served as Head of GSO Private Equity Investing, Co‐Head of Mezzanine Investing, and Co-Portfolio Manager for GSO’s Capital Opportunities Fund I.  Dunes Point Capital is based in Rye, NY (www.dunespointcapital.com).

Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to DPC and Alvarez & Marsal Transaction Advisory Group served as financial advisor.  Harris Williams & Co. served as financial advisor to Harvey.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-6-15

New Consumer Group Acquires Blue Moose of Boulder

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Blue Moose of Boulder, a provider of natural hummus and refrigerated spreads under the Blue Moose of Boulder and Ciolo brands, has sold a majority of its business assets to a new consumer focused investor group.

The new investor group is led by Ed Shirley, the former CEO of Bacardi and Vice Chairman of Procter & Gamble.  Mr. Shirley will serve as Chairman of Blue Moose of Boulder.  “Consumers increasingly are trending toward natural snacking options and we believe that Blue Moose of Boulder’s authentic, hand-crafted and high-quality ingredients will continue to resonate in the marketplace.  I look forward to helping the company achieve its accelerated growth plans,” said Mr. Shirley.

Blue Moose of Boulder was founded in 1997 and sells its natural hummus and refrigerated spreads under the Blue Moose of Boulder and Ciolo brands. Other products include salsas, pestos, and tapenades.  The company is headquartered just outside Boulder in Lafayette, CO (www.bluemooseofboulder.com).

Joining Mr. Shirley as lead investors in Blue Moose are Dan Fink and Fred Howard. Mr. Fink has extensive private equity experience and has worked at J.W. Childs Associates and Centerview Capital.  He most recently worked with Mr. Shirley at Bacardi in a Global Vice President of Finance/Business & Strategic Planning role.  Fred Howard, a consumer packaged goods executive who worked for 20 plus years in leadership roles at Gillette and Procter and Gamble, will serve as Chief Executive Officer of Blue Moose. Most recently, Mr. Howard was CEO of Metagenics, a nutraceuticals company.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-6-15

Irving Place Acquires Ohio Transmission

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Irving Place Capital has completed its acquisition of Ohio Transmission Corporation (OTC), a distributor of motion control, pump and air compressor products, from Frontenac Company which acquired the company in July 2013.

OTC’s divisions include OTP Industrial Solutions, a provider of industrial motion control, fluid power, power transmission and pumping systems; and Air Technologies, a compressed air system equipment and service provider and the largest distributor of Atlas Copco compressed air equipment in North America. The company has approximately 11,000 customers and 650 employees. Ohio Transmission was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Columbus, OH (www.otpnet.com) (www.aircompressors.com).

The members of OTC’s management team, led by CEO Phil Derrow, will continue in their current roles and will retain equity ownership in the business. Bob Grubbs, former CEO of Anixter International, will continue in his role as Chairman of OTC. Carlos Cardoso, former CEO of Kennametal and Senior Advisor at Irving Place Capital, will join the OTC Board of Directors.

“Ohio Transmission’s long-standing focus on providing technical solutions and support to its customers and suppliers is a differentiated approach in the industrial distribution sector, and one that has resulted in consistent growth throughout its history,” said Devraj Roy, Partner at Irving Place Capital. “We look forward to partnering with the management team to continue to build on this strong foundation.”

“I am thrilled to continue working with the OTC management team to help drive growth and profitability,” said Mr. Grubbs. “Partnering with the Irving Place Capital team, with whom I have enjoyed a long-standing relationship, gives me the confidence that we will have an experienced and knowledgeable investor to support the company going forward.”

Irving Place Capital invests in buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital opportunities. The firm focuses on making control or entrepreneur-driven investments. Since its formation in 1997, Irving Place Capital has been an investor in 60 companies and manages over $4 billion, including its current $2.7 billion institutional fund. The firm is based in New York (www.irvingplacecapital.com).

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-6-15

Spanos Barber Jesse Closes Debut Fund

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Spanos Barber Jesse & Co. has held a final closing on its debut fund, SBJ Fund, LP, with total capital commitments of $204 million, exceeding its original $150 million target.

Spanos Barber Jesse & Co. (SBJ) was founded by Gus Spanos, Tom Barber and Bill Jesse. SBJ is classified as a Small Business Investment Company having received its license from the US Small Business Administration in February 2015.

“We are extremely pleased by the reception our strategy and experience have received from a blue chip investor base consisting of well-known institutions, family offices and heads of major investment firms,” said Mr. Spanos, Co-Founder and Managing Director of SBJ. “Tom, Bill and I look forward to using our industry expertise and flexible capital to help founders and management teams achieve their business and financial objectives.”

The new fund will invest in lower middle-market consumer, business services and healthcare services companies with up to $100 million in revenue and EBITDA from $2 million to $10 million. The fund can invest in both equity and debt and make control and non-control investments.

Earlier this summer, the firm closed on its first investment by acquiring a controlling interest in Armor Express, a provider of soft body armor and related products to law enforcement, military, correctional and other public safety personnel. Armor Express is headquartered in the northern Michigan city of Central Lake (www.armorexpress.com).  SBJ partnered with Generations Management, a family office based in Traverse City, MI, on this transaction (www.generationsmgmt.com).

SBJ maintains office in San Francisco and Dallas (www.sbjcap.com).

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-6-15