Archives for January 20, 2016

Sand Oak Invests in LCR Contractors

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Sand Oak Capital has made an investment in LCR Contractors (LCR), a provider of fireproofing and spray applied thermal insulation.

LCR has over 30 spray crews and a large amount of equipment that allows it to operate multiple crews on projects throughout the country. The company is led by Donald Spicer, President and Clay Spicer, Vice President. LCR is headquartered in Dallas and, according to Sand Oak Capital, is one of the largest spray subcontractors in the United States (www.lcrcontractors.com).

Sand Oak Capital invests from $10 million to $50 million of capital in lower-middle market companies that have from $20 million to $200 million of annual revenues. Sectors of interest include industrial services and manufacturing, building products, distribution and logistics, environmental services, building and facilities services, testing and inspection, consumer goods, packaging components, and construction material and engineering. Sand Oak Capital is led by its founders Jeremy Schwimmer and Jeffrey Mizrahi and is headquartered in New York (www.sandoak.com).

“We are extremely excited about our partnership with LCR,” said Mr. Mizrahi. “Buddy and Clay Spicer have built an exceptional business addressing a critical safety feature of building construction, renovation, and maintenance. With the strengthening of building codes and increased focus on energy efficiency, LCR is well-positioned for future growth.”

“Sand Oak brings a wealth of experience investing in and growing family-owned businesses,” said Clay Spicer. “We look forward to taking LCR to the next level with our new partners.”

Gladstone (www.GladstoneInvestment.com) provided financing to support this acquisition. Dallas-based Pinecrest Capital Partners (www.pinecrestcap.com) was the financial advisor to LCR.

© 2016 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-20-16

CI Capital Acquires CNX Distribution

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Maroon Group, a portfolio company of CI Capital Partners, has acquired CNX Distribution, a distributor of specialty chemicals. CI Capital Partners acquired Maroon Group, also a distributor of specialty chemicals, in July 2014.

CNX Distribution supplies raw materials for the CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers), plastics, oil and gas, and chemical processing industries. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered northeast of Ft. Worth in Hurst, TX (www.cnxdistribution.com). The CNX senior management team will remain in place and will continue to run the business under Maroon’s ownership.

“CNX Distribution is our third acquisition in 15 months and provides an anchor for us in this strategic region of the country,” said Mark Reichard, President and CEO of Maroon Group. “We’re thrilled to complete this acquisition as we continue to implement our multi-tiered growth strategy,”

Maroon Group supplies specialty additives, resins, pigments and packaging to North American manufacturers active in the plastics, coatings, composites, rubber and adhesives markets. The company was founded in 1977 and is headquartered near Cleveland in Avon, OH (www.maroongroupllc.com).

“The Maroon Group management team, led by Mark Reichard, has worked hard to implement an acquisition strategy based on building relationships with other specialty chemical distributors and structuring partnerships that will benefit both companies,” said Joost Thesseling, Managing Director at CI Capital Partners. “We are pleased with the progress made in just eighteen months of ownership and look forward to a very productive 2016.”

CI Capital Partners invests from $25 million to $100 million in middle market companies in the following sectors: business services, consumer services, distribution, government services and defense, and light manufacturing. Since its founding in 1993, CI Capital and its portfolio companies have made more than 150 acquisitions representing over $7 billion in enterprise value. CI Capital’s existing portfolio consists of companies which collectively generate annual revenue of approximately $2.5 billion, EBITDA of approximately $250 million, and employ approximately 9,000 people. The firm is based in New York (www.cicapllc.com).

© 2016 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-20-16

Riverside Continues Messaging Build

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Spectrio, a portfolio company of The Riverside Company, has acquired Vital Media. This is the third add-on completed by Riverside since acquiring Spectrio in October 2014 from SJ Partners.

Vital Media provides telephone-based on-hold marketing services, and digital signage services at both point of purchase and on waiting-room media equipment. The company specializes in the automotive sales and automotive services markets such as repair shops and tire stores. Vital Media has annual revenues of approximately $2.7 million and 1,700 customers. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Charlotte (www.VitalMedia.com).

“The addition of Vital Media strengthens Spectrio’s position in the automotive space, where we anticipate continued growth,” said Riverside Partner Peter Tsang. “Spectrio offers a compelling value proposition to its customers and we are pleased with the progress we’ve made in expanding the company and its capabilities.”

Spectrio completed its first add-on acquisition with the buy of Rowley, MA-based Sound Marketing Concepts in March 2015 (www.soundmarketingconcepts.com) and acquired Greensboro, NC-based Message On Hold Plus in April 2015 (www.mohplus.com). Riverside will continue working with Spectrio to further expand the company through organic growth and more add-ons.

Working with Mr. Tsang on the transactions for Riverside were Partner Chris Jones, Senior Associate Max Moehlmann, Associate Linda Xu and Operating Partner George Benson.

The Riverside Company invests in businesses valued at up to $300 million. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 410 transactions. The firm’s international portfolio includes more than 80 companies. Riverside is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London (www.riversidecompany.com).

Here’s a video explaining more of what Vital Media does.

[iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/zZguAoGYsnQ” align=”left” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”250″]

© 2016 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-20-16

Audax Building Another Specialty Chemical Platform

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Audax Private Equity has combined two of its specialty chemical portfolio companies, California Products Corporation and Nicoat, to form Innovative Chemical Products Group.

The combination of these two companies was inevitable once Audax acquired California Products, a maker of interior and exterior paints and stains based in Andover, MA, from Delos Capital in October 2015 (www.calprocorp.com). Audax was already the owner of Nicoat, a manufacturer of water-based and UV-curable coatings used in graphic art, packaging, and specialty coating applications, which it acquired in March 2015 from Caltius Equity Partners. Nicoat is based just outside Chicago in Itasca, IL (www.nicoat.com).

As one company, ICP Group (ICP) is now active in the formulation, manufacturing, and marketing of coatings and adhesives. The company serves the architectural, specialty construction, packaging, printing and sport surfaces end markets. Brand names include California Paints, Fiberlock, Storm System, Nicoat, Decoturf, Plexipave, and Rebound Ace Z. ICP has warehousing and manufacturing capabilities near Chicago in Itasca, IL and is headquartered near Boston in Andover, MA (www.icpgroup.com).

ICP is led by Doug Mattscheck, its President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Mattscheck is the former Chief Executive Officer of Quest Specialty Chemicals, a former Audax portfolio company which was sold in August 2015. Prior to Quest, Mr. Mattscheck was President and Chief Executive Officer of AGY, a manufacturer of specialty glass fibers and yarns.

“Doug’s experience and successful track record working with private equity-backed companies make him an excellent leader for ICP. We are thrilled that he has joined us as we continue to execute our growth strategy,” said Don Bramley, Managing Director of Audax Group.  ICP will grow its business by leveraging its brands and scalable operations through both organic growth and add-on acquisitions in the coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomer market verticals.

ICP’s growth strategy was in evidence this morning as the company signed an agreement to acquire the assets of 3M’s pressurized polyurethane foam adhesives business (PPFA). This business, with annual revenues of approximately $20 million, is a provider of products that are used in the residential roofing, commercial roofing and insulation, and industrial foam segments.

According to Mr. Mattscheck, ICP plans to maintain PPFA’s existing operations in Tomball, TX (near Houston) and Coral Springs, FL (near Boca Raton), as a stand-alone business unit within ICP. Approximately twenty 3M employees are expected to join ICP as part of the sale. “This acquisition extends the market, technology, and customer base of our business and gives us a foothold into polyurethane technologies. We will accelerate growth of this business through investments in products, sales and marketing, and acquisitions.”

Audax is no stranger to the specialty coatings and adhesives markets having previously invested in ColorMatrix, KODA Distribution Group, Gabriel Performance Products, and the earlier mentioned investment in Quest Specialty Chemicals.

The Audax Group makes control investments of $10 million to $100 million in middle market companies with transaction values of $25 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include industrial manufacturing; energy; outsourced industrial services; consumer products; healthcare devices and services; non-asset based logistics; technology; aerospace & defense; business services; and direct marketing. The firm was founded in 1999 and has offices in Boston, New York and Menlo Park (www.audaxgroup.com).

© 2016 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-20-16

Placement Agent Promotes Two

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Monument Group, a fund placement agent, has promoted Meredith Gendron and Niklas Amundsson to Partner. Ms. Gendron works out of the firm’s Boston office and Mr. Amundsson is based in Hong Kong.

“Meredith and Niklas exemplify the deep experience, relationship skills and expertise that Monument Group brings to our clients and investors globally,” said Alicia Cooney, a Managing Director at Monument Group. “It is with great pride and pleasure that we welcome them to our firm’s partnership.”

Ms. Gendron joined Monument Group in 2005 and is responsible for fund due diligence and analytics. She previously worked at Olson Global Markets as a technical analyst, where she was responsible for creating reports that detailed trading strategies for domestic equities based on technical indicators.

Monument Group was founded in 1994 and has assisted in raising 75 funds totaling over $83 billion of equity. The group most recently assisted CI Capital Partners with fundraising of CI Capital Investors III, LP, which closed earlier this month at its hard cap of $750 million. Monument Group is diversified by investment strategy and can offer its services for many types of funds including buyouts, debt, distressed, energy and natural resources, growth, infrastructure, and real estate

Mr. Amundsson joined Monument Group in 2015 and is responsible for investor coverage in Asia and Australia. He previously spent seven years at placement agent MVision, where he directed their Hong Kong office. Prior to MVision, he was with Almeida Capital in London, where he was responsible for the firm’s fundraising business, and with Credit Suisse First Boston in London and Frankfurt.

Monument Group has 33 employees, including 14 partners, based in its offices in Boston, Hong Kong, London and Tokyo (www.monumentgroup.com).

© 2016 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-20-16