Pfingsten Partners has acquired Lumenier, a designer, manufacturer and online retailer of drone equipment, components and replacement parts for racing, enthusiast, commercial, consumer and military applications.
Lumenier products include motors, propellers, antennas, airframes, batteries, electronics and other drone-related components sold under the Lumenier brand as well as other third-party brands. The company’s products are sold through various distributors, third party online retailers and through the company’s own online retail website. Lumenier is headquartered in Sarasota, FL (www.lumenier.com) (www.getfpv.com).
Pfingsten invests in middle market manufacturing, distribution and business services companies that have transaction values ranging from $15 million to $100 million and EBITDA between $3 million and $12 million. Since founding in 1989, Pfingsten has acquired 121 such companies through five funds with total commitments of $1.3 billion. The firm is based in Chicago with additional representative offices in India and China (www.pfingsten.com).
“The strong commitment of our new partners is critical to support our ambitious growth plan,” said Tim Nilson, Lumenier CEO. “Pfingsten’s conservative capital structure and capabilities in China will allow Lumenier to accelerate our investments in manufacturing capacity and continue our rapid growth.”
The buy of Lumenier closed on September 29, 2017 and is the fourth platform investment for Pfingsten’s $382 million fifth fund which closed in March 2016.
“We look forward to supporting Tim Nilson and the entire Lumenier team in the next stage of the company’s evolution by making investments in people, production capacity and new products,” said Phillip Bronsteatter, a Principal at Pfingsten. “Lumenier has leading brand recognition in the racing and enthusiast segments of the drone market and they are well positioned to benefit from the rapidly growing commercial segment.”
FPG Advisory (www.fpgadvisory.com), a provider of transaction advisory services and private equity capital based in New York, was the financial advisor to Lumenier.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 4, 2017
