Soundcore Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of PumpMan, a provider of pump system maintenance, repair and new system installation.
PumpMan provides service and repair capabilities for all types of pumping systems. Services include repair/replacement of seals, bearings, shafts, impellers; machining of pump parts; motor rewinds; laser shaft alignments; impeller trim and balancing; and complete rebuilds or redesigns of pumping systems. PumpMan has more than 2,700 customers in the municipal, commercial, industrial and residential markets across Southern California. The company was founded in 1976 by Eric Skjarstad and is headquartered east of Los Angeles in Baldwin Park, CA (www.pumpman.com).
On closing of the transaction, Don Devine was named the new Chief Executive Officer of PumpMan. Prior to joining PumpMan, Mr. Devine was the Chief Executive Officer of World and Main, a Littlejohn portfolio company and a distributor of home, hardware and building supply products. Earlier, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Custom Building Products from 2012 to 2013. Custom Building Products, a portfolio company of Kelso and Company, was sold to Quikrete Industries in September 2013. From 2006 to 2012, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of American Standard – a Sun Capital portfolio company – and was President and Chief Operating Officer of Jacuzzi Brands from 2002 to 2005.
“Having spent the better part of my career running large, global businesses, it is very exciting to get in on the ground floor with a business like PumpMan,” said Mr. Devine. “I spent the past six months working with Jarrett, Feliks and the Soundcore team to identify the right business to invest in, and now it’s time to put our plan to work.”
“After identifying the pump maintenance sector as a target for investment, we spoke with more than 1,000 companies and selected PumpMan for its market knowledge, service quality and systems, and focus on the end user customer,” said Feliks Zarotsky, Managing Partner at Soundcore. “Moreover, the entire team at PumpMan is excited about building on its success and growing the company.”
According to Soundcore, the pump services industry has more than 3,000 “mom and pop” businesses who together account for more than $3.3 billion in annual revenue. “This acquisition of PumpMan follows our playbook of pursuing a buy-and-build strategy within fragmented industries,” said Jarrett Turner, Managing Partner of Soundcore.
Soundcore Capital Partners invests from $4 million to $30 million of control equity in lower middle market companies that are headquartered in the US or Canada. Typical targets will have from $3 million to $15 million in EBITDA. Sectors of interest include automotive, building products, business services, chemicals, consumer products, distribution, energy services & products, food & beverage, general manufacturing, healthcare services, industrial machinery & services, packaging, plastics, and transportation. Soundcore was founded in 2015 and is based in New York (www.soundcorecap.com).
The buy of PumpMan is Soundcore’s second platform investment. In November 2015 the firm acquired Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists, a provider of on-site repair services of cosmetic damage to alloy wheel cores, off-site remanufacturing of structurally damaged wheels, and OEM replacement parts through the company’s retail network. Alloy Wheel is headquartered in Norcross, GA (www.awrswheelrepair.com).
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 9-23-16
