Wynnchurch Capital has completed the sale of JAC Products to Argonaut Private Equity and Hall Capital. Wynnchurch acquired JAC Products in December of 2010 from Annex Capital Management.
JAC Products is a designer and manufacturer of a roof racks, cargo management systems, assist steps and other similar functional components. The company’s aluminum, plastic and steel products are sold to automotive OEMs worldwide and used on more than 110 different platforms. JAC operates manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe and Asia. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered west of Detroit in Saline, MI (www.jacproducts.com).
“We are thankful to have partnered with a world class management team to capitalize on JAC’s leading market position and drive significant operational improvement,” said Ian Kirson, a Partner at Wynnchurch. “These efforts significantly increased earnings and allowed us to realize an outstanding return for our investors. It is satisfying to see our combined efforts produce a company that is the clear industry thought leader and is well positioned to enter its next phase of growth.”
“Since Wynnchurch acquired the company in 2010, JAC has gone through a multi-year transformation. The senior management team, with assistance from Wynnchurch, has taken steps to improve the business including developing a culture of transparency, problem solving and continuous improvement, increasing profitability through the elimination of waste and improving productivity, and focusing the company on customer quality and product innovation,” said Mike Wood, JAC’s CEO.
Wynnchurch Capital makes investments of $10 million to $90 million in middle-market companies that have revenues of $5 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include niche manufacturing, business and industrial services, energy and power services, logistics, transportation and value-added distribution. The firm was founded in 1999 and is located in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont with additional offices in Detroit (Bloomfield Hills), Los Angeles (El Segundo), and Toronto (www.wynnchurch.com).
Argonaut Private Equity makes investments of $1 million to $200 million in companies in the consumer electronics, specialty materials, telecommunications, software, aviation, and healthcare industries. Argonaut’s portfolio includes investments in the United States, China, Israel, Japan, Eastern Europe and Australia. The firm has $3.5 billion of assets under management and is based in Tulsa (no website found).
Hall Capital Partners (HCP) is the private equity affiliate of Hall Capital, a private investment company owned by the Hall family. HCP makes control or non-control investments of $2 million to $25 million in manufacturing, distribution, or service companies with revenues of $10 million to $100 million and operating profit of at least $1 million. The firm has raised three private equity funds with a total of $250 million of committed capital from the Hall family and outside partners, both individual and institutional. HCP has offices in Oklahoma City, Chicago (Lake Forest), Nashville, and New York (www.hall-capital.com).
Quarton International (www.quartoninternational.com) was the investment banking advisor to JAC Products on this transaction.
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 11-11-16
