Kinderhook Industries has sold its portfolio company Dispensing Dynamics International (DDI) to Hunter Industries. Kinderhook acquired DDI in May 2007.
Dispensing Dynamics International is a provider of both proprietary and standard plastic injection molded paper towel, tissue, soap, and air care dispensers for the away-from-home washroom industry. DDI is a supplier to some of world’s largest paper companies including Kimberly-Clark, Georgia Pacific, Wausau Paper, Cascades, Bobrick, SCA Tissue, and other OEM’s and distributors. The company is headquartered in City of Industry, CA (www.dispensingdynamics.com).
In January 2017, DDI sold its San Jamar division to the Carlisle Companies. San Jamar, based in Elkhorn, WI, designs and distributes dispensers for paper towels, tissue, soap and air purification as well as personal and food safety products for commercial and institutional foodservice customers.
Family-owned Hunter Industries, the buyer of DDI, is a manufacturer of products used in irrigation and landscape lighting. Products include pop-up gear-driven rotors, spray sprinklers, valves, controllers, central controllers and weather sensors that are used in a wide array of locations including sports stadiums, national landmarks, hotels, and city parks. The company entered the landscape lighting sector through its acquisition of FX Luminaire in 2009. The buy of DDI is Hunter’s first major foray into a market unrelated to irrigation or landscape products. DDI will operate as a separate unit within Hunter Industries.
Hunter Industries was founded in 1981 by Edwin Hunter and Paul Hunter to produce a compact landscape sprinkler called the “PGP” (an acronym meaning “professional gear-driven pop-up”). Greg Hunter, the current President of the company is Edwin’s grandson. Hunter Industries is headquartered north of San Diego in San Marcos, CA (www.hunterindustries.com).
“I’m very proud of the business we have built at DDI,” said Dean Debuhr, Chairman of DDI. “My team, with the support of Kinderhook and its operating partners, grew this business in excess of four times its original size during our ownership period, and in doing so, built the world leading provider of patented, proprietary dispensing solutions for the away-from-home washroom market. I’d like to thank Kinderhook for all of their support and guidance and I look forward to watching the business enter its next phase of growth.”
“This is a tremendous outcome for Kinderhook, DDI and its employees. We are very proud of the accomplishments of DDI’s management team and employees, led by Dean Debuhr, and we expect the company to continue to flourish as part of Hunter Industries. Our investment in DDI highlights the key tenet of Kinderhook’s core investment strategy; partnering with world class management teams to aggressively grow businesses in niche markets both organically and through acquisition,” said Paul Cifelli, Managing Director at Kinderhook.
Kinderhook makes control investments in companies with transaction values of $25 million to $150 million in which the firm can achieve financial, operational and growth improvements. The firm makes investments in non-core divisions of public companies, management buyouts of entrepreneurial-owned businesses, troubled situations, and existing small capitalization companies lacking institutional support. Kinderhook was founded in 2003 and is based in New York (www.kinderhook.com).
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | June 22, 2017
