Valentus Specialty Chemicals, a portfolio company of Huron Capital, has acquired PoloPlaz, a maker of wood floor coatings.
PoloPlaz’ wood floor coatings are sold under the PoloPlaz brand name and are used in gymnasium and residential applications. According to the company, the PoloPlaz brand name is well known in the gym sector and PoloPlaz products are used on most NBA floors and even the Olympic floors in Atlanta, GA and Athens, Greece. The company was founded in 1961 as the National Coatings Co. and changed its name to PoloPlaz in 2006. Unlike nearly all other finish companies – which purchase all or some of their products from contract or toll manufacturers – PoloPlaz products are all made in-house from proprietary formulations. The company is headquartered near Little Rock in Jacksonville, AR (www.poloplaz.com).
PoloPlaz was purchased by Mac Hogan in 1988 from the founding owner and he and co-owner Chad Baker will become Valentus shareholders and join Valentus’ management team.
Huron Capital launched Valentus in May 2014 in partnership with Ray Chlodney, John Ragazzini and Bob Taylor to pursue a buy-and-build strategy in the industrial coatings sector. The buy of PoloPlaz is the fourth add-on acquisition for Valentus under Huron ownership.
“Our firm has a long history of building sizeable specialty chemical platforms. With Valentus completing four acquisitions since December 2015, we believe Huron Capital’s ExecFactor buy-and-build model is working well under Ray’s leadership and building scale,” said Mike Beauregard, Senior Partner at Huron Capital. “In addition to pursuing more acquisitions, we will be working with Ray, Bob, and the Valentus team to pursue meaningful organic growth strategies as we look to further expand the Valentus platform.”
Valentus, headquartered near New York City in North Brunswick, NJ, closed its first investment in December 2015 with the acquisition of National Paint Industries, a manufacturer of specialty coatings used in residential and commercial flooring, industrial protective maintenance, pool, and marine applications. In April 2016, Valentus acquired the floor finishes business of Precision Technology and in August 2016 it acquired Absolute Coatings, the wood floor finishes business of Paint Over Rust Products.
“We think PoloPlaz is a great addition to Valentus,” said Mr. Chlodney. “PoloPlaz has built an excellent reputation in the wood floor coatings market and partnering with PoloPlaz will broaden our product offerings and expand our geographic reach.”
Huron Capital invests up to $70 million per transaction in middle market companies that have revenues up to $200 million and EBITDAs of $5 million or more. Sectors of interest include specialty manufacturing, business services, consumer goods & services, and healthcare. Huron was founded in 1999 and has offices in Detroit and Toronto (www.huroncapital.com).
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | September 1, 2017
