Riverside Partners has agreed to sell its portfolio company Thinklogical to publicly traded Belden for $160 million. Riverside acquired a majority interest in Thinklogical in March 2010 in partnership with the company’s five founders and management team. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter.
Thinklogical is a developer and manufacturer of fiber-optic-based video and KVM switching and extension equipment. A KVM switch (KVM is an abbreviation for “keyboard, video and mouse”) is a hardware device that allows a user to control multiple computers from one or more sets of keyboards, video monitors, and mice. The company’s products are used for real time enterprise video management (including switching and transmission of high quality video and peripheral signals) across a variety of end markets, including military, aerospace, command and control, entertainment, broadcast, medical, security and auditorium applications.
Thinklogical, led by CEO Joe Pajer, was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Milford, CT (www.thinklogical.com). Thinklogical had revenues of $51 million in 2016 with an adjusted EBITDA of $17 million. This results in a purchase price multiple of 9.4x.
“We are thrilled about this outcome for Thinklogical and extremely proud of the team. Under Joe’s leadership and our ownership, the company expanded its client base across multiple end-market applications including military and intelligence, broadcast and post-production,” said Michelle Noon, General Partner at Riverside Partners.
Riverside Partners invests in middle market healthcare and technology-oriented companies that have revenues from $20 million to $200 million and EBITDAs from $5 million to $25 million. The firm is currently investing its fifth fund, Riverside Partners Fund V, with $561 million of capital commitments. Riverside was founded in 1989 and is based in Boston (www.riversidepartners.com).
“Thinklogical truly embodies what we at Riverside Partners seek to achieve in partnership with our portfolio management teams – the transformation of a founder-owned company with a strong technology foundation into a professional, sustainable and much larger enterprise,” said Steven Kaplan, General Partner at Riverside Partners. “During our ownership, the company expanded its sales presence globally, accelerated its technology leadership, and increased the breadth of product and services offered to clients.”
Belden (NYSE: BDC) is a manufacturer of networking, connectivity, and cable products. The company designs, manufactures, and markets signal transmission products for the industrial automation, enterprise, security, transportation, infrastructure, and residential markets. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in St. Louis with manufacturing capabilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia (www.belden.com).
Belden will finance the buy of Thinklogical with cash on hand.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | May 5, 2017
