High Road Capital’s portfolio company All Integrated Solutions (AIS) has acquired Great Lakes Fasteners Corporation. AIS – formerly known as Accurate Components & Fasteners – was acquired by High Road in December 2012. Great Lakes Fasteners is the third acquisition completed by AIS under High Road’s ownership.
Great Lakes Fasteners is a distributor of fasteners and industrial components and provides vendor-managed inventory programs to original equipment manufacturers in the automotive; furniture; material handling; process equipment; fabricated metal; appliance; and heavy truck industries. Gordon and Elaine Vandermeulen purchased the company (then known as the Grand Rapids Bolt and Nut Company) from the Plafkin family in 1976. The company was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI with an additional facility in Traverse City, MI (www.glfasteners.com).
“We are proud of the Great Lakes Fasteners’ team’s achievements over the past forty years, and we are excited to have found in AIS and High Road the right partners to build upon that success going forward,” said Mr. Vandermeulen, Chairman of Great Lakes Fasteners.
AIS is a distributor of industrial fasteners, hardware and components to manufacturers in the Upper Midwest. The company has a large inventory of standard and specialty fasteners and fittings with over 25,000 SKUs in stock and supply-chain partners throughout the world. The company, led by CEO Jim Ruetz, was founded in 1962 and has operations in Franksville, WI (headquarters); Cedar Rapids, IA; New Brighton, MN; Fargo, ND; and Oshkosh, WI (www.allintegrated.com).
“Great Lakes Fasteners’ focus on vendor-managed inventory programs and high-touch customer service are a compelling fit with AIS,” said Ben Schnakenberg, Partner, High Road Capital Partners. “This acquisition expands AIS’s reach into Michigan and the automotive and material handling industries, and solidifies AIS’s position as a leading independent distributor of industrial OEM components and MRO products in the Upper Midwest.”
High Road invests in manufacturing, service, or value-added distribution businesses with revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDAs of $3 million to $10 million. High Road has completed 39 transactions – 14 platform investments, 20 add-on acquisitions and five exits – since its founding in 2007. High Road is based in New York (www.highroadcap.com).
Mr. Schnakenberg led the transaction for High Road and was assisted by Scott Rubino, Vice President; James Karle, Associate; and Operating Partner William Hobbs.
Twin Brook Capital Partners (www.twincp.com) provided financing for the transaction. Corporate Finance Associates (www.cfaw.com) advised Great Lakes Fasteners.
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