Archives for September 5, 2017

Pritzker Building Packaging Platform

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ProAmpac, a portfolio company of Pritzker Group Private Capital, has acquired Wisconsin-based PolyFirst Packaging. This is the third add-on acquisition that ProAmpac has completed since being acquired by Pritzker Group in November 2016. The two earlier acquisitions were Armonk, NY-based Trinity Packaging in April 2017 and Orlando, FL-based Clondalkin Flexible Packaging in August 2017.

PolyFirst Packaging specializes in printed/customized roll stock and various types of plastic pouches and bags that are used in the industrial, medical, and food sectors. PolyFirst was founded in 1999 as Advanced Bag with an 8,100 square-foot facility with a couple of employees and two machines that produced exactly one style of polyethylene bags. Today, PolyFirst has 120 employees and 67,000 square-feet of production facilities in Hartford, WI (40 miles northwest of Milwaukee) and Aurora, IL (45 miles west of Chicago) (www.polyfirst.com). With the close of this transaction, PolyFirst will now operate as a part of ProAmpac’s US Flexibles Division and Steve Randazzo, the Chief Executive Officer of PolyFirst, will lead operations at the PolyFirst facilities in Hartford and Aurora.

ProAmpac’s packaging capabilities include adhesive lamination, extrusion coating and lamination, film extrusion, metalizing, pouching, bag converting, rotogravure printing, flexographic/offset printing, and HD flexo printing. The company operates under the Prolamina, Ampac and Tulsack brands and serves customers in the food, medical, pet food, security, industrial and specialty retail markets. With the buy of PolyFirst, ProAmpac now has 25 manufacturing sites globally with 3,200 employees supplying more than 5,000 customers in 90 countries. ProAmpac is led by CEO Greg Tucker and is headquartered in Cincinnati (www.proampac.com).

“The acquisition of PolyFirst provides us with cold seal capabilities and several new bag and pouch formats. Combined with our manufacturing expertise and award-winning printing assets, our customers will benefit from a more comprehensive service and product offering,” said Mr. Tucker.

“PolyFirst is a strategic acquisition that expands ProAmpac’s already robust product offering. We will continue to support ProAmpac with acquisitions that add value for their customers and support their growth initiatives in strategic markets,” said Michael Nelson, an Investment Partner at Pritzker Group Private Capital.

Pritzker Group, founded by Managing Partner Tony Pritzker and J.B. Pritzker, has three principal investment teams: Private Capital, which acquires and operates North America-based middle-market companies in the manufactured products, services and healthcare sectors; Venture Capital, which provides early-stage and growth venture funding to technology companies; and Asset Management, which partners with investment managers across global public markets.  The Pritzker Group is based in Chicago (www.pritzkergroup.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | September 5, 2017

TA Invests in PetPeople

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TA Associates has made an investment in PetPeople, a retailer of dog and cat foods, treats and supplies. The investment from TA Associates was used to purchase the equity stake of Rosser Capital Partners which invested in PetPeople in July 2014.

PetPeople is a retailer of natural and high-quality pet food and supplies, operating 42 stores throughout Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and North Carolina. The company was founded in 1997 by Mike and Trish Elkind and is headquartered north of Columbus in Worthington, OH (www.petpeoplestores.com).

“TA Associates is fully on board with our mission and core values, which revolve around relationships, trust, and the health and well-being of pets,” said Mr. Elkind. “With TA’s investment, we will be able to deploy resources with an aim to build our brand into new markets and further enhance the overall customer experience in our stores. We welcome TA as an investor and are eager to begin collaborating with their team as we build upon our momentum.”

“PetPeople has demonstrated an impressive track record of organic growth, doubling their number of stores since 2014 and entering several new geographies throughout the country,” said Jeffrey Barber, a Managing Director at TA Associates. “We are honored that PetPeople has selected TA to be their partner as the company looks to take advantage of, and capitalize on, distinct opportunities within the marketplace.”

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).

“We are incredibly grateful for the support and trust of our team, vendors, business partners and customers,” said Ms. Elkind. “These strong relationships are the real reason for PetPeople’s success to date and we couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to continue to build upon this foundation with TA Associates.

Rosser Capital Partners invests growth equity in the restaurant, retail and consumer industries. Typical investment targets will have $2 million to $15 million of EBITDA and have 5 to 30 locations in operation. The firm is based in Greenwich, CT (www.rossercapitalpartners.com).

Piper Jaffray was the financial advisor to PetPeople on this transaction.

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | September 5, 2017

Gregory Lau Joins WCAS

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Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) has added Gregory Lau to the firm as a General Partner and a member of its fundraising and investor relations team. Mr. Lau joins WCAS from FFL Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, where he was Managing Director and head of fundraising and investor relations.

“We are pleased to welcome Greg to WCAS,” said Tony de Nicola, President and Managing Partner of WCAS. “We look forward to benefiting from his deep expertise in fundraising and investor relations as we enhance our already strong capabilities in this important area of our firm and continue to strengthen our relationships with our global limited partner base.”

At FFL Partners, Mr. Lau was head of fundraising and investor relations and led the fundraising of FFL Capital Partners IV, which closed at its $2 billion hard cap in June 2015. He originally joined the firm in 2000 and served in both investing and fundraising roles over the years.

“I have long respected WCAS for its success investing in technology and healthcare over the past four decades. I am excited to join the firm as we seek to continue to build value for WCAS’s limited partners,” said Mr. Lau.

WCAS is focused exclusively on investments in technology and healthcare. Since its founding in 1979, WCAS has organized 16 limited partnerships with total capital of over $22 billion and is currently investing through Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe XII LP, which closed in June 2016 with $3.3 billion in capital commitments. The firm is based in New York (www.welshcarson.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | September 5, 2017

Shore Capital Adds to Argentum Medical

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Argentum Medical, a portfolio company of Shore Capital Partners, has acquired the TheraBond family of products from Alliqua BioMedical. Total consideration on the transaction was $3.8 million with $3.3 million of cash paid at closing.

The TheraBond product line is based on a proprietary and patented manufacturing process where silver is bonded to the entire surface of all fibers of the wound dressing. When TheraBond products are placed on the wound, bioactive ionic silver is released in the dressing at a controlled rate, promoting an optimal wound healing environment. The TheraBond products include contact dressings, island dressings and wraps that are used in burn care, surgical site care, and wound care.

Argentum, a portfolio company of Shore Capital since January 2017, manufactures and sells wound care products that are used in a number of clinical applications including surgical wounds, burns, chronic wounds, IV catheter-related wounds, and for negative pressure wound therapy. The company’s core brand is Silverlon which uses a silver-plated nylon matrix that provides the antimicrobial properties of silver ions to the wound dressing. The company, led by CEO Raul Brizuela, was founded in 2001 and is headquartered near Chicago in Geneva, IL (www.silverlon.com).

“This is an important acquisition for Argentum, and is consistent with the strategy we developed when we partnered with Raul Brizuela and the management team at Argentum earlier this year,” said Don Pierce, a Partner of Shore Capital Partners and Chairman of the Board of Argentum. “This acquisition is an excellent fit with the broader strategy of building a leading platform serving the advanced wound care market. This product family will extend Argentum’s burn care penetration and increase the depth of its product portfolio.”

“Alliqua has done an excellent job establishing these products as reliable, high-quality solutions for treating burns and other advanced wound care applications, and we have enjoyed working with them on this transaction,” said Mr. Brizuela. “We are excited to add the TheraBond products to Argentum’s existing Silverlon silver plated nylon product portfolio, further strengthening our clinically proven and cost-effective offering for clinicians and patients in all advanced wound care settings.”

Shore Capital Partners invests in lower middle market healthcare related companies that have $5 million to $50 million of revenue and $1 million to $5 million of EBITDA. Shore targets equity commitments of $10 million to $15 million per platform.  Healthcare sectors of particular interest include behavioral health; healthcare staffing; infusion therapy; laboratory products & distribution; laboratory services; outpatient rehab therapy; urgent care; veterinary services; pharmaceutical services and contract research.  Shore was founded in 2009 and is based in Chicago (www.shorecp.com).

Alliqua BioMedical (NASDAQ: ALQA) is a publicly-traded medical products company headquartered in Yardley, PA (www.alliqua.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | September 5, 2017