Nautic Partners has agreed to acquire Endries International, a distributor of fasteners, from Ferguson Enterprises. This transaction is expected to close by the end of June.
Endries International, which was acquired by Ferguson in November 2005, is a distributor of fasteners and Class-C parts to industrial original equipment manufacturers worldwide. The company has more than $250 million in annual revenues and provides over 500,000 SKUs to its customers that operate across a range of end markets including agriculture equipment, all terrain vehicles, foodservice equipment, furniture, general machinery, healthcare, HVAC, industrial controls, lawn & garden equipment and many others.
Endries operates primarily through a vendor managed inventory model that supports replenishment systems to provide products and support services that are critical to maintaining the customer’s manufacturing process. Endries, led by CEO Steve Endries, was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Brillion, WI (south of Green Bay) and has eight US and international distribution centers (www.endries.com).
Nautic Partners is a middle-market private equity firm with over $2.5 billion of equity capital under management. Nautic targets majority equity investments of $25 million to $75 million. Sectors of interest include business services, manufacturing, and healthcare. The firm was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Providence, RI (www.nautic.com). In December 2015, Nautic completed fund raising for Nautic Partners VIII at the hard cap of $900 million.
“Endries is a very well-run company with an excellent management team and great culture,” said Chris Pierce, a Managing Director of Nautic. “We look forward to supporting the company’s organic growth initiatives and we are particularly enthusiastic about the company’s Pulse RFID offering. We will also work with management to pursue selective acquisitions in Endries’ fragmented market.” Pulse RFID is a service offering of Endries introduced in 2016 that tracks on-site fastener usage through radio frequency identification technology and alerts Endries when restocking is needed.
Ferguson, the seller of Endries, is the one of the largest wholesale distributors of residential and commercial plumbing supplies and pipe, valves and fittings in the US. The company is also a major distributor of HVAC equipment, waterworks and industrial products and services. The company is headquartered in Newport News, VA (www.ferguson.com). Ferguson has sales of $13 billion in 2016 and is a subsidiary of Wolseley (LSE: WOS) (www.wolseley.com).
“Endries is a world-class OEM/fastener distributor and has been a valued member of the Ferguson portfolio of companies for a number of years,” said Rob Braig, Ferguson’s Vice President of Industrial Strategy. “We are confident that Nautic will help Endries continue to grow and provide additional opportunities for the business and its associates in the future.”
BMO Harris Bank is leading the financing for this transaction. BB&T Capital Markets was the financial advisor to Ferguson.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | May 18, 2017
