Summit Partners has acquired Harvey Performance Company, a provider of carbide end mills and cutting tools used to cut and shape metals in precision machining applications, from The Riverside Company which acquired the company in March 2014.
Harvey Performance Company is composed of two brands: Harvey Tool – a broad, one-stop offering for hard-to-find micro-cutting tools; and Helical Solutions – a manufacturer of high-performance custom and standard end mills. The company’s products are used in the manufacturing and metalworking industries, including the aerospace and defense, medical, automotive, industrial motors and telecommunications sectors. In 2016, Harvey earned a position on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered north of Boston in Rowley, MA (www.harveyperformance.com) (www.harveytool.com) (www.helicaltool.com).
CEO Pete Jenkins and other members of the Harvey senior management team will remain significant shareholders in the company under Summit ownership. “Harvey Performance prides itself on providing best-in-class products and technical service to a diverse and demanding customer base,” said Mr. Jenkins. “We’ve known the Summit team for years, and we appreciate their shared vision for growth.”
Summit Partners provides private equity and venture capital for growth companies. Founded in 1984, Summit has raised more than $16 billion in capital and has provided equity, recapitalization, and management buyout financing to more than 395 companies across a range of industries. The firm has offices in Boston, Palo Alto, London, and Mumbai (www.summitpartners.com).
“Harvey’s end-market is enormous, and we believe the company’s product breadth, differentiated go-to-market strategy and premium technical support model will continue to position the business well for long term success,” said Jay Pauley, a Managing Director with Summit Partners.
After investing in Harvey in 2014, Riverside expanded the company through targeted organic and inorganic growth initiatives. These efforts, which included the August 2015 add-on acquisition of Helical Solutions, extended Harvey’s leadership position in high-precision carbide end mills, further expanded the customer base with new distributors and end users, and enabled the company to successfully enter new product categories. In total, sales and EBITDA at Harvey increased more than 160% and 180%, respectively, during Riverside’s investment.
“Harvey, led by CEO Pete Jenkins, has an outstanding team that shared our ambitious growth goals for the company,” said Riverside Managing Partner Suzy Kriscunas. “Riverside and the management team made great strides scaling the business with investments in management, systems, and infrastructure.”
The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on investing in and acquiring growing businesses valued at up to $400 million. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 480 transactions and its portfolio includes more than 80 companies. The firm is headquartered in New York with 16 additional US and international offices (www.riversidecompany.com).
Piper Jaffray (www.piperjaffray.com) was the financial advisor to Riverside on this transaction.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 17, 2017
