Archives for February 12, 2016

Wind Point Buys Advanced Distribution

by

Dicom Transportation, a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners, has acquired Advanced Distribution.

Advanced Distribution (AD), is an asset‐light provider of final mile delivery services in major metro areas throughout Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Customers of AD include medium‐sized businesses and Fortune 500 companies.

Dicom Transportation, acquired by Wind Point in February 2014, operates three business segments: Express, Freight and Logistics. Services provided include overnight and second‐day parcel, freight transportation, freight management and last mile services throughout the US and Canada. Brand names include Dicom Express, JiT and GoJiT brands. Dicom is led by CEO Scott Dobak and is headquartered in Montreal (www.dicom.com).

“Advanced Distribution is a perfect fit for Dicom and a very exciting addition to our platform,” said Mr. Dobak. “AD complements Dicom’s network in the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada, and expands our cross border delivery capabilities to the Midwestern US.”

Alex Washington, Managing Director, and Konrad Salaber, Principal, are active in managing Dicom Transportation for Wind Point. The company continues to seek add-on acquisitions to broaden its network and Dicom’s acquisition program focuses on acquiring courier, less-than-truckload, and other transportation providers in the United States and Canada. In addition, Dicom is seeking third party logistics and brokerage providers who manage transportation, logistics and supply chain functions for businesses in Canada, the US and Mexico.

“Advanced represents our largest add‐on acquisition to date and significantly expands Dicom’s scope of service. With more than 50 facilities, 2,500 dedicated delivery providers, and well over C$400 million in annual sales, Dicom is emerging as one of North America’s leading transportation and logistics companies,” said Mr. Salaber.

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 $2.8 billion in capital under management.  Wind Point Partners was founded in 1984 and is based in Chicago (www.wppartners.com).

Kirkland & Ellis (www.kirkland.com) served as legal advisor and KPMG (www.kpmgcorporatefinance.com) was the transaction advisor to both Wind Point and Dicom.

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 2-12-16

OMERS Sells Marketwired to Nasdaq

by

OMERS Private Equity has agreed to sell its portfolio company Marketwired LP to New York-based Nasdaq. The transaction is expected to close before the end of March.

Marketwired, acquired by OMERS Private Equity (OPE) in 2006, is a news wire service used by investor relations and public relations professionals for news distribution and media management. The company is led by CEO Adnan Ahmed. Marketwired was founded as Internet Wire in October 1994 and is today headquartered in Toronto (www.marketwired.com).

In July 2010, Marketwired – under OPE ownership – acquired Sysomos, a social monitoring and analytics service which provides its customers the ability to track their social media activity across Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Marketwired and Sysomos separated in 2015 and Sysomos will remain under OPE’s ownership. Sysomos is headquartered in Toronto (www.sysomos.com).

“Marketwired has been part of OPE since 2006 and has been a strong contributor to our returns,” said Michael Graham, a senior managing director at OPE. “The sale to Nasdaq is a logical step in the company’s evolution.” Marketwired has had a marketing partnership – its services are recommended to listed companies – with NASDAQ since April 2003.

The sale of Marketwired by OPE follows the December 2015 purchase of PR Newswire by Cision, a portfolio company of GTCR. Cision, acquired by GTCR in February 2014, is a subscription and cloud-based provider of public relations and marketing software that is used by public relations and corporate communications professionals to manage public relations campaigns, including content distribution, media monitoring and media analysis. Cision is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in Canada, UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Finland and China (www.cision.com).

OMERS Private Equity manages the private equity activities of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pension funds. The group’s investment strategy includes the active ownership of businesses in North America and Europe. Sectors of interest include manufacturing, financial and business services, industrial and consumer products, transportation, and technology. Investment sizes range from $100 million to $500 million. The firm is located in Toronto with offices in New York and London and has $6 billion of investments under management (www.omerspe.com).

Morrison & Foerster (www.mofo.com) is providing legal counsel to both Marketwired and OMERS Private Equity.  The transaction team at Morrison & Foerster is led by New York-based, M&A partner and Co-Chair of Global Private Equity, Jonathan Melmed. Also on the transaction team are New York Partners Enrico Granata (M&A), Michelle Jewett (Tax), John Delaney (IP transactional) and Domnick Bozzetti (Compensation & Benefits), Palo Alto partner Christine Lyon (Employment) Washington, DC partner Jonathan Gowdy (Antitrust), of counsel Aki Bayz (Antitrust), New York M&A associate Lisa Bozman and visiting international attorney Rafael Zabaglia and New York associate Ken Nicholds (IP transactional).

BMO Capital Markets (www.bmo.com) served as financial advisor to Marketwired and OMERS Private Equity.

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 2-12-16

Argosy Buys Nationwide Industries

by

Argosy Private Equity has acquired Nationwide Industries from publicly traded P&F Industries for approximately $22 million.

Nationwide Industries is a manufacturer of gate and fence hardware; window and door components such as handles, hinges and locks; storm and screen door components such as cables and closure kits, and other OEM and custom parts. The company is based in Tampa (www.nationwideindustries.com).

Argosy invests from $5 million to $15 million in lower middle market companies that have revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA margins of 10% or greater.  Sectors of interest include manufacturing, business services, and value-added distribution.  The firm was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in the Philadelphia suburb of Wayne, PA (www.argosycapital.com).

P&F Industries (NASDAQ: PFIN) is a manufacturer and importer of air-powered tools and accessories sold principally to the retail, industrial and automotive markets.  The company’s products are sold under its own trademarks, and private labels of major manufacturers and retailers. P&F Industries is based on Long Island in Melville, NY (www.pfina.com).

“The sale of Nationwide is a significant component of our objective to transform P&F into a more focused organization.  Part of this business strategy is to center our position in the air tools and related accessories sector,” said Richard Horowitz, P&F’s CEO.

New York-based investment bank Daroth Capital Advisors (www.daroth.com) was the financial advisor to P&F. Peter Rothschild led the transaction for Daroth Capital.

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 2-12-16

Neuberger Berman Closes Marquee Brands Above Target

by

Neuberger Berman has closed a new fund – Marquee Brands Partners LP – at $462 million. The fund was oversubscribed and exceeded its $400 million target. Investors in the new fund include more than 20 institutions, including public and private pensions, insurance companies and foundations from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Japan.

The fund will be used for consumer brand acquisition, licensing and management. Sectors of interest include US and European brands in the apparel, footwear, accessories, health & beauty, entertainment, food & beverage and home products sectors. The fund has already closed on two acquisitions: In February 2015 it acquired Bruno Magli, the luxury Italian footwear brand, and in July 2015 it acquired Ben Sherman, the iconic British fashion brand.

Marquee’s investment team is led by Samuel Porat, a Managing Director of Neuberger Berman, and Zachary Sigel, a Principal of Neuberger Berman. The operating arm of Marquee is led by Michael DeVirgilio, President, and Cory Baker, Chief Operating Officer.  Both teams are based in New York (www.marqueebrands.com).

“We believe that Marquee’s strategy of acquiring leading consumer brands with strong growth opportunities provides our investors with a potential attractive source of yield and capital appreciation,” said Mr. Porat. “Our investors, faced with twin challenges of a volatile market and persistently low-rate environment, are seeking alternative sources of income and return and intellectual property such as consumer brands can benefit their investment portfolios.”

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages equities, fixed income, private equity and hedge fund portfolios for institutions and advisors worldwide. In January 2016 Neuberger Berman closed NB Strategic Co-Investment Partners III LP at its hard cap of $1.5 billion and surpassed its target of $1.25 billion. The firm has offices in 18 countries and is headquartered in New York (www.nb.com).

“We look forward to continuing to build a diversified portfolio of high-quality brands that we can grow organically through marketing, geographic expansion and new products,” said Mr. Sigel. “We believe the large committed capital base from our investors, Neuberger Berman’s global network, and our strong management team makes Marquee one of the best capitalized and strategically positioned competitors in the consumer brand acquisition, licensing and management business.”

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 2-12-16