Archives for August 28, 2017

Boyne Invests in Greenrise Technologies

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Boyne Capital Partners has made an investment in Greenrise Technologies, a provider of infrastructure services – including design, component selection, installation and maintenance – for green roofs and outdoor landscapes.

According to the Greenrise, green roofs have a number of advantages when compared to empty and unused space including storm water runoff reduction, better insulation and roof life extension. Greenrise, led by CEO Ray Derbecker and COO Scott McGaughy, is headquartered near Nashville in Readyville, TN (www.greenrisetech.com).

Mr. Derbecker is the former President and CEO of Superior International Industries, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of playground and recreational equipment. Boyne and MCG Capital acquired Superior in 2006 from Trivest Partners and later sold the business to Pfingsten Partners in 2011.

“The Boyne team and Ray Derbecker have a long history of successfully working together, and we are honored to have the opportunity to join Ray and his team again,” said Derek McDowell, Boyne Managing Partner. “The green roof industry is expanding rapidly as public awareness grows regarding the environmental, social, and health benefits provided by green roofs.”

“Greenrise believes it’s found the ideal partner for the company’s next major growth phase,” said Mr. Derbecker. “Boyne has a long history of growing businesses alongside management, and we are excited to be teaming up with them. With this partnership, Greenrise has the capital partner to achieve its goal of becoming the leading provider of green roof systems and components in North America,”

Boyne makes investments in lower middle market companies that have revenues of less than $100 million and EBITDA of $2 million to $10 million. Sectors of interest include healthcare services, agriculture, consumer products, niche manufacturing, and business & financial services. In July 2017, Boyne closed its debut institutional fund, BCM Fund I LP, with $126 million of capital commitments, surpassing the original target of $100 million. Boyne was founded by Derek McDowell in 2006 and is headquartered in Miami (www.boynecapital.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | August 28, 2017

Calera Sells United Site Services to Platinum

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Calera Capital has sold its portfolio company United Site Services (USS) to Platinum Equity. Calera acquired USS in August 2014 from GSO Capital Partners (Blackstone) and Angelo, Gordon & Co.

USS is a provider of portable restrooms, VIP restroom and shower trailers, temporary fence, temporary power, and other related products to the construction, event, industrial and government markets.  The company has 80 branch locations nationwide and provides its services to 85,000 customers annually. USS is led by CEO Ron Carapezzi and is headquartered in Westborough, MA (www.unitedsiteservices.com).

“We were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work together with Ron Carapezzi and the rest of the USS management team to significantly grow and strengthen the company,” said Managing Directors Jim Farrell and Ethan Thurow in a released statement. “Through this partnership, we were able to drive both organic and acquired growth, while also implementing operational improvements in the business.” Under Calera’s ownership, USS was very acquisitive. The company completed 17 add-on acquisitions over the past 18 months and 22 since 2015.

Calera Capital invests from $35 million to $200 million in companies with enterprise values from $100 million to $750 million.  Sectors of interest include business services and specialty industrials. Calera was founded in 1991 and has offices in San Francisco and Boston (www.caleracapital.com).

Platinum Equity, the buyer of USS, invests in a range of industries including manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics, equipment rental, metals services, media and entertainment, technology, and telecommunications. The firm has completed nearly 185 acquisitions since its founding in 1995. Platinum is based in Beverly Hills with additional offices in New York and London (www.platinumequity.com).

“We look forward to our partnership with the USS management team to drive continued growth and help maximize performance throughout the business,” said Platinum Equity Partner Louis Samson.  “The company has proven to be a strong platform on which to build and it will benefit from the additional M&A and operational resources our team brings to bear.”

“We will continue pursuing opportunities to acquire portable sanitation and related services companies in key markets while leveraging Platinum’s operational expertise to improve our customer value proposition, enhance our operating effectiveness and increase our profitability,” said Mr. Carapezzi.

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | August 28, 2017

Excellere Invests in Biocare Medical

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Excellere Partners has made an investment in Biocare Medical, a provider of immunohistochemistry instrumentation and reagents that are used in the testing of biological tissue samples in order to detect cancer cells and infectious diseases. The investment in Biocare is the first platform investment for Excellere Capital Fund III LP.

Biocare’s customers include clinical and hospital laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, and biotechnology companies as well as academic, government, military, and other non-profit laboratories. The company, led by CEO Roy Paxton Yih, is headquartered near San Francisco in Pacheco, CA (www.biocare.net).

Excellere intends to build value in the company through investments in infrastructure, organic growth initiatives in existing and new markets, and add-on acquisitions of other reagent and diagnostic businesses.

“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Roy and the entire Biocare team and are excited to support their vison for building a best-in-class industry leader focused on immunohistochemistry and molecular diagnostic products,” said Ryan Glaws, a Partner at Excellere. “We identified the reagents and diagnostics products sector several years ago as an attractive area in which to execute Excellere’s value creation strategy. We have dedicated significant resources to pursuing a reagent platform that has a differentiated product offering, global customer base, commitment to R&D, and a passionate leadership team. In Biocare, we have found both an exceptional business as well as a proven management team.”

“We have an outstanding opportunity to partner with Excellere, which has a proven track record of supporting founder-led businesses in achieving transformative growth,” said Mr. Yih. “While we had many options, we chose Excellere as our partner based on their track record and passion for supporting emerging growth companies.”

Excellere invests in middle-market companies with revenues ranging from $20 million to $150 million. Sectors of interest include healthcare services and products; energy, power and infrastructure services and products; industrial technology, specialty chemicals; and business services. The firm has $1.4 billion of capital under management and is based in Denver (www.excellerepartners.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | August 28, 2017

Genstar Acquires PDI

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Genstar Capital has made an investment in PDI, a provider of enterprise resource planning software. TA Associates, which invested in PDI in 2016, will continue as a significant shareholder in the company.

PDI provides enterprise software that is used for retail, wholesale and logistics automation, financial reporting, workforce management, and end-to-end fuel supply chain management. PDI’s customers -which number more than 1,200 in 50 countries – include single site or multi-site convenience store retailers, wholesale petroleum marketers and logistics carriers. The company is based northeast of Austin in Temple, TX (www.profdata.com).

“Genstar is an experienced software investor with a long-term perspective that will help PDI continue to deliver for our customers, innovate our software portfolio, provide world-class global service, and focus on new untapped markets,” said Jimmy Frangis, PDI’s Chief Executive Officer.

Genstar invests from $50 million to $400 million in middle-market companies that have enterprise values from $50 million to $1 billion and EBITDAs greater than $15 million.  The firm targets investments in the financial services, software, industrial technology, and healthcare industries.  Genstar was founded in 1988 and is based in San Francisco (www.gencap.com).

“Genstar focuses on identifying market leaders in the software sector and we believe that PDI has established an unmatched presence in the market for more than 30 years,” said Eli Weiss, a Managing Director at Genstar. “Our added capital and resources in partnership with TA Associates will provide PDI with the means to further develop their technology and allow for strategic add-on acquisitions that we believe will meet the needs of a rapidly changing market.  We look forward to working with the PDI management team and TA to help accelerate the company’s growth.”

“Since beginning our partnership with the PDI management team in May 2016, PDI has successfully executed against its growth strategy, rapidly accelerating topline revenue growth, delivering significant levels of product innovation and deepening its presence in international markets,” said Hythem El-Nazer, a Managing Director at TA. “PDI has accomplished a great deal in the last 15 months, and we believe that its future is bright.”

TA Associates makes buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the technology, financial services, business services, healthcare, and consumer industries. Since founding in 1968, TA has invested in over 500 companies globally and has raised more than $24 billion in capital. The firm has offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong (www.ta.com).

Lazard (www.lazard.com) was the financial advisor to PDI on this transaction.

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | August 28, 2017