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
