Graham Partners has sold its portfolio company Tidel Engineering, a provider of cash management systems and robbery deterrent products, to Littlejohn & Co.
Tidel is a provider of smart safes that are used by customers to secure and automate their cash handling operations including validating, reconciling, storing, and dispensing cash. The company’s customers include quick-service restaurants, convenience stores, grocers, money service businesses, healthcare providers, and general retailers. Tidel is led by CEO Gary Landry and is based in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton (www.tidel.com).
Graham acquired Tidel in February 2015 and during its two-year ownership term Tidel’s EBITDA increased by over 150%. Under Graham’s ownership, Tidel brought on many new blue chip customers across a range of end markets, expanding to over 5,000 new locations.
“When we evaluated an investment in Tidel, we saw a unique opportunity with the company’s technology solution,” said Adam Piatkowski, Managing Principal at Graham Partners. “We conducted in-depth research during diligence – working closely with top industry experts – to recognize trends in cash usage and concluded that Tidel’s products were benefiting from the early stages of a long-term technological conversion towards smart safes.”
Graham Partners acquires companies with EBITDA between $5 million and $50 million and will invest in smaller companies as add-on acquisitions to existing portfolio companies. The firm is sponsored by the Graham Group, an industrial and investment concern with interests in plastics, packaging, machinery, building products and outsourced manufacturing. Graham Partners was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Philadelphia (www.grahampartners.net).
“Smart safes offer compelling economics for all participants in the cash management ecosystem, including retailers, armored carriers and financial institutions. As such, the industry is poised for rapid growth in adoption. Given its reputation for quality and innovation, Tidel is remarkably well positioned to benefit from the ongoing growth and development of this market,” said Tony Miranda, Managing Director of Littlejohn.
Littlejohn makes control and non-control investments in middle-market companies that are undergoing a fundamental change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth. The firm invests from $50 million to $150 million of equity in middle market companies that have annual revenues of $100 million to $800 million. Littlejohn invests across a range of industries and acquires manufacturers, distributors, and service providers. The firm is currently investing from Littlejohn Fund V, LP, which has $2 billion in capital commitments. Littlejohn is based in Greenwich, CT (www.littlejohnllc.com).
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | March 2, 2017
