Archives for October 26, 2017

New Plastics Platform Launched

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Lee Equity Partners and BlackBern Partners have joined with plastics industry executive Brian Jones to form Westfall Technik.

Westfall Technik is led by Brian Jones, the former President and CEO of Nypro, a large custom injection molder. In addition to Mr. Jones, Perry Morgan is the company’s Chief Financial Officer and Rick Shaffer is a Managing Director. Westfall Technik is based near Phoenix in Chandler, AZ (www.westfall-technik.com).

“We are excited to support Brian and the team as they execute on their vision to create a market leading plastics solutions provider. We look forward to continuing their long-term track record of success in delivering high-performance results through Westfall Technik,” said Rahul “Billy” Nand, Partner at Lee Equity.

Concurrent with the formation of Westfall Technik, the company has completed its first acquisitions with the buys of Fairway Injection Molds and Integrity Mold.

Fairway Injection Molds is a manufacturer of multi-cavity injection molds. Products include single-face molds, stack molds, high-speed unscrewing molds, and multi-shot molds where multiple resins and/or colors are utilized. The company was founded in 1977 and is based near Los Angeles in Walnut, CA (www.fairwaymolds.com).

Integrity Mold, a portfolio company of Montage Partners since December 2015, is a manufacturer of plastic injection molded parts, integrated assemblies, and injection molding tool fabrication. The company’s customers are active in the medical, consumer durables, transportation and construction industries. Integrity Mold was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Tempe, AZ (www.intmold.com).

“It is a great privilege to partner with Lee Equity in sponsoring Brian and his team’s ambitious business plan. It is equally rewarding to have well respected businesses like Fairway and Integrity share in the Westfall vision,” said Jonathan Bernstein, Managing Member at BlackBern Partners.

Lee Equity Partners focuses on control buyouts and growth capital financings, typically investing $50 million to $100 million of equity per transaction. Target companies have enterprise values of $100 million to $500 million and are located in the United States. Sectors of interest include business services; consumer and retail; distribution and logistics; financial services; healthcare services; and media. The firm is based in New York (www.leeequity.com).

BlackBern Partners invests in mature operating companies in the lower middle market. The firm was founded in 2010 by Ian Black and Jonathan Bernstein and is based in New York (www.blackbernpartners.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 26, 2017

Kayne Hits Fund IV Hard Cap

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Kayne Partners has held a final close of Kayne Partners Fund IV LP at the hard cap of $385 million.

Fund IV, which was substantially oversubscribed, will maintain the same focus as its three predecessor funds in providing growth capital of $5 million to $30 million to entrepreneurs and management teams of high growth enterprise software and technology-enabled businesses. Typical target investments will be based in North America and have $5 million to $40 million of revenue. Sectors of interest include security & compliance, supply chain & logistics, business & financial services, industrials, healthcare and media & telecom.

“We are thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive market feedback we received from investors wanting access to high growth technology companies. This interest is an acknowledgment of our Kayne Partners’ investment strategy and a testament to the strength of our team,” said Dave Walsh, Managing Partner. “We are grateful for the trust and support from our existing long-time investors, and are excited to welcome a new group of premier limited partners from the family office, registered investment advisor, and institutional investor communities.”

The closing of Fund IV brings Kayne Partners’ total cumulative commitments to over $740 million since inception. The new fund has already closed on three investments and Kayne Partners now has 20 active portfolio companies.

Kayne Partners (www.kaynepartners.com) is the growth private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, an alternative investment firm with $24.5 billion in assets under management. The firm focuses on niche investing in energy, energy infrastructure, growth equity, specialty real estate and middle market credit. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Boca Raton, Houston, New York, Chicago, Denver, Dallas and Atlanta (www.KayneCapital.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 26, 2017

Sterling Adds on to Safe Fleet

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Safe Fleet, a portfolio company of The Sterling Group, has acquired COBAN Technologies, a supplier of body cameras and in-car video products used in law enforcement applications.

Thousands of COBAN’s systems have been deployed by hundreds of police departments across the United States, ranging from small departments with a few vehicles, to large, multi-precinct cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago.

COBAN was founded in 2002 and is based in Houston (www.cobantech.com).

Safe Fleet was formed in October 2013 when Sterling acquired R•O•M Corporation (ROM) and Specialty Manufacturing (SMI). Both ROM and SMI were portfolio companies of Century Park Capital Partners. Today, Safe Fleet owns a portfolio of brands that are used in the emergency services, bus and rail, recreational vehicle, truck and trailer, work truck, industrial and military markets. The company has approximately 1,000 employees and 10 manufacturing locations. Safe Fleet is headquartered south of Kansas City in Belton, MO (www.safefleet.net).

“COBAN is an excellent addition to Safe Fleet’s portfolio.  We believe the combination of COBAN’s position in law enforcement with Safe Fleet’s leading video positions in the school and transit bus, fire, waste, and commercial markets establishes Safe Fleet as the largest global provider of video solutions to the fleet market,” said John Knox, CEO of Safe Fleet.  “Safe Fleet/COBAN is now the only video provider able to comprehensively supply common and integrated video solutions to all first responder departments as well as all municipal fleet markets.”

The buy of COBAN is the ninth add-on acquisition that Safe Fleet has completed under Sterling’s ownership and the company’s fifth acquisition in the video and telematics sector.  “The partnership with COBAN further strengthens Safe Fleet’s robust family of technology and safety solutions for a growing list of fleet end markets,” said Gary Rosenthal, a Partner at The Sterling Group.

The Sterling Group invests in manufacturing, industrial services and distribution companies that have enterprise values from $100 million to $750 million.  The firm emphasizes an operational approach in partnership with management teams to grow and improve the companies it acquires.  Sterling was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Houston (www.sterling-group.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 26, 2017

Audax Keeps Building Medical Products Platform

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Katena Products, a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, has acquired Rhein Medical. Audax acquired Katena from Cortec Group in June 2015.

Rhein Medical is a manufacturer of ophthalmic surgical instruments and devices that are used in cataract and refractive surgery, glaucoma and corneal procedures. The company was founded in 1988 by John Bee and Carl Wortham and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL (www.rheinmedical.com).

Katena Products is a provider of surgical instruments, biologics, medical devices and optical lenses to physician offices, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. The company sells its products in more than 110 countries through a US-based sales force and an international distributor network. Katena is headquartered near Newark in Denville, NJ (www.katena.com).

“The acquisition of the Rhein Medical product line is an important addition to Katena’s product portfolio. The combination of these two renowned brands will bring internal synergies as well as offer physicians a more complete resource for handheld instrumentation,” said Mark Fletcher, CEO of Katena Products.

Audax makes control investments of $10 million to $100 million in middle market companies with transaction values of $25 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include industrial manufacturing; energy; outsourced industrial services; consumer products; healthcare devices and services; non-asset based logistics; technology; aerospace & defense; business services; and direct marketing. The firm was founded in 1999 and has offices in Boston, New York and Menlo Park (www.audaxgroup.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 26, 2017