One Rock Capital has agreed to acquire FXI, a producer of foam products, from MatlinPatterson Global Advisers and Black Diamond Capital Management. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2017.
FXI is a producer of foam products that are used in bedding, furniture, transportation, medical, filtration and acoustics applications. The company’s products include finished goods, sub-assemblies, services and raw materials that are sold to OEMs, fabricators and retailers. The company began operations in the 1950’s as Foamex International and changed its name to FXI in June 2009 when MatlinPatterson and Black Diamond acquired the assets of Foamex International. Today, FXI operates 18 facilities located in the US and Mexico and is headquartered west of Philadelphia in Media, PA (www.fxi.com).
FXI’s current management team, led by CEO John Cowles, will continue in their current roles under One Rock ownership. “This is a very exciting new chapter for our company, our customers and our employees,” said Mr. Cowles. “Our management team and employees have worked very hard these past few years to grow and expand our business and to deliver for our customers. We are confident that our expertise, combined with the strategic resources of One Rock, will allow us to continue to build our product pipeline with innovative high-quality products and to increase our speed to market.”
“We were attracted to the unique positioning of FXI in the marketplace, its strong reputation and its excellent product lineup,” said Scott Spielvogel, a One Rock Managing Partner. “With the involvement of One Rock Operating Partners John Georges, Andrew Georges and Mark Oakeson, we look forward to working with FXI management to continue to enhance the company’s product offerings and grow the business.”
One Rock makes control investments of $10 million to $60 million in companies that are active in the chemicals and process industries; specialty manufacturing; healthcare products; business services; environmental services; and automotive retail. One Rock has a strategic relationship with Mitsubishi Corporation – the firm’s largest investor – which provides resources to One Rock and its portfolio companies. One Rock was formed in 2010 by Tony Lee and Scott Spielvogel and is based in New York (www.onerockcapital.com).
MatlinPatterson is an alternative asset manager that focuses on distressed investment situations and other credit opportunities. The firm was established in 2002 by David Matlin and Mark Patterson as a spinout from Credit Suisse First Boston. MatlinPatterson is headquartered in New York (www.matlinpatterson.com).
Black Diamond invests in performing and distressed markets through the following three platforms: control distressed/private equity; hedge fund; and collateralized loan obligations. In October 2015, Black Diamond held a final close of its latest fund – BDCM Opportunity Fund IV LP – at the hard cap of $1.5 billion. The firm was founded in 1995 and is based in Greenwich, CT (www.bdcm.com).
Jefferies LLC and Rothschild were the financial advisors to FXI on this transaction.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | September 11, 2017
