Archives for August 9, 2016

Salt Creek Buys Griplock from KCA

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Salt Creek Capital has acquired Griplock Systems from KCA Partners which first invested in the company in September 2008.

Griplock Systems is designer and provider of cable suspension systems that are used in multiple industrial and commercial markets including retail signage and store fixture display; architectural ceilings; theatrical and trade show rigging; and museum quality art displays. Griplock Systems was founded in 1992 by Sebastian Giefer and is headquartered near Santa Barbara in Carpinteria, CA (www.griplocksystems.com).

Co-investing on this transaction with Salt Creek was Ocean Avenue Capital Partners (www.oceanavenuecapital.com) and Spell Capital (www.spellcapital.com). Byline Bank provided senior financing (www.bylinebank.com). “We are delighted to partner with Salt Creek in this acquisition. The application markets that Griplock serves are growing quickly, and the company is adding new product lines, making this an exciting time of growth and expansion,” said Jacques Youssefmir, a Partner at Ocean Avenue.

With closing of the acquisition, Salt Creek has named Todd Hemingway as the new CEO of Griplock. “Partnering with Salt Creek to acquire a highly engineered manufacturing business that leverages my 20 years of industry experience is an ideal situation. I am eager to begin working with the Griplock team and building upon the strong momentum at the company.” Mr. Hemingway joined Salt Creek Capital as an Executive Partner in 2016. Previously, he served as the Americas Division CEO and Corporate VP of Engineering for A Raymond, a designer and maker of metal and plastic fastening systems.

“Griplock is an innovative company creating a portfolio of strong intellectual property,” said Salt Creek Capital’s Managing Director, Dan Mytels. “Todd will be an excellent addition to the company with his management background and experience as an innovator in fastener products, personally holding 5 related patents.”

Salt Creek invests in executive-led buyouts of companies with up to $100 million in revenue and EBITDA from $750,000 to $5 million. Sectors of interest are varied making the firm nearly industry agnostic but areas of specific interest include manufacturing, business and consumer services, distribution, and franchisors. The firm is based in Menlo Park (www.saltcreekcap.com).

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 8-9-16

Pfingsten Buys Critical Power USA

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Unified Power, a portfolio company of Pfingsten Partners, has acquired Critical Power USA, a provider of services and equipment to the uninterruptible power market.

Critical Power USA provides emergency service, installation service, preventive maintenance service, battery replacement, capacitor replacement, demand maintenance and first responder training. The company also provides equipment including UPS systems, DC power plants, numerous battery products, and current inverter systems. Critical Power USA is based west of Baltimore in Frederick, MD (www.criticalpowerusa.com).

Unified Power is a provider of preventative, remedial and emergency maintenance services, equipment and parts to the uninterruptible power supplies industry. The company operates two business lines: the services division includes full service and preventative maintenance contracts, time and material services, load bank testing and thermographic services; and the equipment division provides equipment recycling and refurbishment, parts sales and rental power equipment. Unified Power is led by CEO Chris Roach and is based east of Dallas in Terrell, TX (www.unifiedpowerusa.com).

The buy of Critical Power USA is Unified Power’s sixth add-on acquisition since Pfingsten became the majority shareholder in 2011. Earlier add-ons were Power Protection Unlimited (Rosedale, MD); United Power Service Company (Glenmont, OH); Power Protection Services (Mesquite, TX); the UPS Division of LionHeart Power Systems (Huntley, IL); and 24/7 Technology (Marietta, GA).

Pfingsten invests in middle market manufacturing, distribution and business services companies that have transaction values ranging from $15 million to $100 million and EBITDA between $3 million and $12 million. Since founding in 1989, Pfingsten has acquired 114 such companies through five funds with total commitments of $1.3 billion. The firm is based in Chicago with additional representative offices in India and China (www.pfingsten.com).

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 8-9-16

Liberty Hall Buys ZTM

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Accurus Aerospace, a portfolio company of Liberty Hall Capital Partners, has acquired ZTM, a Tier II supplier of large, complex metallic parts and assemblies used in aerospace applications.

ZTM supplies several Boeing commercial aerospace platforms, including the 737 and 787 and lists both Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems as among its largest customers. ZTM was founded in 1989 by Brad Julius and has a 131,000 sq. ft. operating and headquarters facility in Wichita (www.ztm.com).

Accurus Aerospace was formed as a platform company by Liberty Hall in November 2013. Since its formation, Accurus has completed four other add-on acquisitions: Precise Machining & Manufacturing (November 2013); McCann Aerospace Machining (March 2014); LaCroix Industries (July 2015); and J&M Machine (June 2016). Accurus Aerospace is headquartered in Tulsa (www.accurusaero.com).

“The addition of ZTM marks the fifth acquisition for Accurus and a critical step forward as we execute our strategy to build a diversified Tier II aerostructures supplier,” said Rowan Taylor, Liberty Hall’s founding Partner. “ZTM not only expands Accurus’ content on the key 737 and 787 platforms, reinforces our strong relationships with our largest customers and extends Accurus’s geographic presence into Wichita, but also provides Accurus with proven capabilities for delivery of large complex assemblies.”

Liberty Hall invests exclusively in businesses serving the aerospace and defense industry. The firm was founded by Mr. Taylor in July 2011 and is headquartered in New York (www.libertyhallcapital.com).

Philadelphia-based Hamilton Lane (www.hamiltonlane.com) is a co-investor in Accurus Aerospace.

Financing for the buy of ZTM was provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (www.baml.com) and Citizens Bank (www.citizensbank.com).

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 8-9-16

Vestar Acquires Mobile Technologies

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Vestar Capital Partners has acquired Mobile Technologies from Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company (HKW). HKW acquired Mobile Technologies in August 2013.

Mobile Technologies (MTI) designs, assembles, distributes retail loss prevention products that are used by sellers of mobile consumer electronics; and sells products under the ArmorActive brand that protect and secure tablets and smartphones that are used in both mobile and stationary retail environments. MTI is led by Chris Remy, president and chief executive officer, and is based west of Portland in Hillsboro, OR with additional offices in London and Hong Kong (www.mobiletechinc.com).

“We’re confident that our new partnership with Chris Remy and his management team will lead to new levels of growth and profitability for MTI,” said Robert Rosner, co-president and founding partner of Vestar. “Demand for retail merchandising display technology and enterprise mobility has a high growth outlook, and within that marketplace, MTI offers the only global, device-agnostic, turnkey solutions platform.”

Vestar specializes in management buyouts and growth capital investments. The firm targets equity investments from $50 million to $150 million in middle-market companies with enterprise values ranging from $250 million to $1 billion. Sectors of interest include consumer; diversified industries; healthcare; and financial services.  Since the firm’s founding in 1988, Vestar has completed more than 75 investments in companies with a total value of more than $40 billion. Vestar has offices in New York, Boston, and Denver (www.vestarcapital.com).

Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company invests in companies with revenues between $20 million and $200 million and EBITDAs between $2 million and $20 million. Since 1982, HKW has completed 51 platform management buyouts of small middle-market companies throughout North America as well as 56 add-on acquisitions. The firm was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Indianapolis with an additional office in New York (www.hkwinc.com).

Investment bank TM Capital (www.tmcapital.com) was the financial advisor to MTI and Taft Stettinius & Hollister (www.taftlaw.com) served as legal advisor. Kirkland & Ellis (www.kirkland.com) served as legal advisor to Vestar.

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 8-9-16

CI Makes Move In Transportation and Logistics

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CI Capital Partners has partnered with Mark Yeager, the former president and chief operating officer of Hub Group, to pursue a platform company in the fragmented transportation and logistics sector.

CI Capital has direct experience in the transportation and logistics sector having acquired and sold Transplace, a provider of non-asset based third party logistics, intermodal and truck brokerage services, and numerous other companies in the distribution sector. CI Capital sold Transplace, which at that time had annual revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, to Greenbriar Equity Group in June 2013.

“I am pleased to announce this new partnership with CI Capital,” said Mr. Yeager. “I believe that now is an attractive time to pursue a platform company investment in the logistics industry, given continued outsourcing by shippers and the dynamic capacity environment. CI Capital’s experience in the logistics industry, coupled with its commitment to and history of supporting management teams to build bigger businesses through numerous add-on acquisitions and other growth initiatives, made the firm an ideal partner.”

Most recently, Mr. Yeager was the president and chief operating officer of Hub Group, a transportation management company offering intermodal, brokerage and logistics services. Mr. Yeager spent 23 years at the company, serving in various roles including general counsel, division president, and president of field operations. In October 2015, Mr. Yeager resigned from Hub Group’s board of directors, two months after stepping down from his post as president and chief operating officer of the company. Mr. Yeager is the son of Hub Group founder Phillip Yeager, and his brother, David Yeager, the current chairman and chief executive officer of Hub Group.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to form a partnership with Mark Yeager, who has an impressive track record in the logistics industry,” said Joost Thesseling, Managing Director at CI Capital.

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 190 acquisitions representing over $8 billion in enterprise value. The firm is based in New York (www.cicapllc.com).

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 8-9-16

Charlesbank Gets Two Managing Directors

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Mid-market investor Charlesbank Capital Partners has promoted Joshua Beer and Jason Pike to Managing Director.

“Jason and Josh each bring outstanding talent to our work, and each has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and deep commitment to our investment activity and to the firm,” said Michael Eisenson, Managing Director and CEO of Charlesbank. “We are pleased to recognize their well-earned advancements and look forward to their continued contributions to the success of Charlesbank, our portfolio companies and, most importantly, our investors.”

Mr. Beer first joined Charlesbank in 2003 from Bain & Company where he was a senior associate consultant.  After completing Charlesbank’s associate program in 2006, he entered business school and then rejoined the firm in 2008.  He has a BA in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Wharton.

Prior to joining Charlesbank in 2012, Mr. Pike was a principal at Eos Partners, a middle-market private equity firm based in New York. Earlier in his career he was at Citigroup, Generation Partners, and Goldman Sachs. He has a BS in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Wharton.

Charlesbank Capital Partners invests in management-led buyouts and growth capital financings, typically investing from $50 million to $150 million per transaction in companies with enterprise values of $150 million to $1 billion. The firm has offices in Boston and New York (www.charlesbank.com).

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 8-9-16