Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP) has acquired Capsa Healthcare, a provider of mobile workstations, medication management products, and pharmacy automation products. Capsa Healthcare has been a portfolio company of Keystone Capital since December 2000.
Capsa Healthcare is a market leader in point-of-care IT, medication management systems and pharmacy automation. The company has an installed base of over three hundred thousand units worldwide and its products are used in a variety of healthcare environments including hospitals, extended care facilities, retail and mail-order pharmacies. Capsa is headquartered in Portland, OR and has additional production facilities in Columbus, OH and Agua Prieta, Mexico (www.capsahealthcare.com).
Keystone has been active with Capsa for almost 17 years. In December 2000 the firm partnered with the management team of International Retail Services Group (IRSG) – a provider of hanger-management systems, inventory transfer racks, tables, and carts to national apparel retailers – to purchase the company from Avista Corporation. For the first seven years of Keystone’s ownership, IRSG operated as a standalone investment supplying the apparel retail and healthcare markets with its inventory management and transportation products. In April 2008, IRSG merged with MMI Med Carts, a family-owned company in the long-term care medication 
storage cart industry, giving IRSG a significant entry into the healthcare industry. Subsequent to the MMI merger, the combined business was renamed Capsa Solutions and operated as the Retail Division (IRSG) and the Healthcare Division (MMI). In November 2009, Capsa acquired Artromick International, a provider of medication carts and acute care technology carts. This acquisition added an Acute Care and International division to Capsa and culminated in an enterprise which was predominantly healthcare oriented. Other acquisitions included the 2014 buy of Kirby Lester, a provider of automated medication dispensing products used in retail, institutional, hospital and ambulatory pharmacy settings; and the 2015 buy of Rubbermaid Healthcare, a manufacturer of mobile computing carts and other healthcare computing products designed for acute care facilities.
The company’s management team, led by CEO Andrew Sherrill, will acquire a meaningful ownership stake in the company in connection with the sale to LLCP. “My team and I are very excited to partner with LLCP as Capsa seeks to enhance its market-leading position across the healthcare ecosystem. LLCP’s experience across sectors including highly-engineered products and healthcare services – the intersection of which Capsa is situated – as well as LLCP’s operational and deal origination resources, will be critical to the continued growth of the company,” said Mr. Sherrill. The buy of Capsa will be the first investment from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners VI LP.
LLCP manages approximately $7 billion of capital through private equity partnerships, distressed debt and leveraged loan funds. Sectors of interest include consumer branded products, franchises, business services, healthcare, education, and engineered products/light manufacturing. The firm is based in Los Angeles with offices in Chicago, Dallas, New York, London and The Hague (www.llcp.com).
“We are excited to partner with Andrew Sherrill, CEO, and the rest of the Capsa management team, who have successfully built a market leading company in an attractive segment of the healthcare industry,” said Aaron Perlmutter, a Partner at LLCP. “We are looking forward to working with Andrew and his team to continue providing innovative solutions to a growing and evolving healthcare landscape.”
Keystone Capital invests in middle market companies with EBITDAs of more than $4 million that are market leaders in niche, mature industries. Sectors of interest include manufacturing, industrial technology, food products and packaging, healthcare products and services, and business and professional services. The firm was founded in 1994 and is based in Chicago (www.keystonecapital.com).
Harris Williams & Co. was the financial advisor to Capsa. The transaction was led by Cheairs Porter, Andy Dixon, Paul Hepper, Nick Owens, Taylor Will and Charles Busch of the firm’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Group.
Senior financing for this transaction was provided by Midcap Financial, NewStar Financial and Madison Capital.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | September 12, 2017
