Norwest Equity Partners (NEP) has acquired Marco, a provider of business technology services to small and medium-sized business. Marco has been owned for the last 28 years by its employees through an employee stock ownership plan.
Marco provides planning, design, implementation and support for copiers/printers, business IT services, managed services, hosted/cloud services, carrier services, phone systems, document management and audio/video systems. The company is organized under three business divisions: Copier/Printer, IT, and Carrier Services. Marco serves more than 25,000 customers through 920 employees in 42 locations across Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska. Marco is led by its CEO Jeff Gau. The company was founded in 1973 by Gary Marsden and Dave Marquardt as a small typewriter shop in St. Cloud, MN which is still the company’s headquarters (www.marconet.com).
In the past three years, Marco has acquired 15 companies and added 430 employees to its workforce. The company has plans to build a 30,000 square foot building adjacent to its St. Cloud corporate headquarters next year to support its continued growth. NEP plans to grow Marco through a combination of initiatives including developing new customer channels, expanding geographically via acquisitions, and developing new products.
“Our firm has extensive experience working with companies like Marco, and we are excited to partner with Jeff Gau and his management team to help them continue growing and building into an even stronger company,” said Tim DeVries, NEP Managing General Partner. “Marco’s leadership, culture and customer-centric approach were key investment drivers for us. We also appreciate our shared Minnesota roots and long history in our respective businesses. Our partnership with Marco is a great fit.”
Norwest Equity Partners makes equity investments of $30 million to $150 million in companies operating in the agriculture, applied technology, business services, consumer products and services, distribution, diversified industrials, and healthcare sectors. In April 2015, NEP closed Norwest Equity Partners X, LP, a $1.6 billion fund and Norwest Mezzanine Partners IV, LP, an $800 million fund formed by NEP’s affiliated mezzanine investment firm, Norwest Mezzanine Partners. Norwest Equity Partners is headquartered in Minneapolis (www.nep.com).
Financing was provided by Antares Capital (www.antarescapital.com), Ally Corporate Finance (www.ally.com/corporate-finance), BMO Capital Markets (www.bmocm.com), and Norwest Mezzanine Partners (www.nmp.com).
Minneapolis headquartered investment bank Chartwell Capital Solutions (www.chartwellfa.com) served as financial advisor to Marco.
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-3-15
