Archives for January 25, 2018

Verus Exits Pittsburgh Brewing Company

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After almost a seven-year hold, Verus Investment Partners has sold Pittsburgh Brewing Company. The buyer of the company was not disclosed.

Pittsburgh Brewing Company (PBC) produces several well-known brands of beer including Iron City, IC Light, American, Old German, and Block House. The company’s products are primarily distributed in Pennsylvania and nearby states. PBC is headquartered in Pittsburgh (www.pittsburghbrewing.com).

During the Verus’ ownership term, PBC made improvements in new products, marketing, and operations and the company was able to expand its sales outside of Western Pennsylvania. These efforts led to positive revenue growth and the company was able to re-establish its brands as the beers of choice for the greater Pittsburgh area. PBC had marketing partnerships with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“We worked closely with the company to attain the goals we established at the time of our initial investment,” said Chris Fuller, Managing Partner of Verus. “Together, we successfully diversified our product offering, invested in strategic sponsorships with Pittsburgh’s professional sports teams, and expanded into new sales channels.”

PBC has a storied and checkered history. The company was founded in 1861 by Edward Frauenheim and during the brewery’s 150-year history, it has introduced many innovations such as the first twist-off cap, the first snap-top can and the nation’s first light beer. Many years later, after surviving Prohibition (the company produced soft drinks, ice cream and ‘near beer’ and ran a cold storage business to endure those years), PBC was acquired in 1986 by Bond Brewing Holdings, a company controlled by controversial Australian businessman Alan Bond, and was later sold in 1993 to Pittsburgh entrepreneur Michael Carlow. In 1995 the company was acquired out of bankruptcy by Keystone Brewing Company but struggled with labor issues and a sharp decline in sales and again filed for bankruptcy in 2005. In 2007, the brewery was purchased and brought out of bankruptcy by Unified Growth Partners. Verus acquired the assets of the company in April 2011 in a control buyout transaction funded entirely with equity.

“We had a strong partnership with the management team of Pittsburgh Brewing Company and we are proud of the success and growth the company has achieved,” said Richard Moreau, a Partner at Verus. “The business is well positioned to capitalize on consumer trends in the beer industry and we look forward to the next phase of the company’s expansion.”

Verus Investment Partners (formerly known as Uni-World Capital) invests in leveraged buyouts and also makes growth equity investments in companies with enterprise values from $20 million to $100 million and that have EBITDA of more than $5 million. Sectors of interest include consumer products, food and beverage, manufacturing and industrial, business services, and building products. The firm is based in New York (www.veruspartners.com.)

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | January 25, 2018

Promus Invests in Event Network

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Promus Equity Partners has made a minority equity investment in Event Network alongside the company’s management team.

Event Network is an operator of specialty retail locations at zoos, aquariums, science centers, children’s and cultural museums, gardens, iconic landmarks and historic sites. The company manages the entire retail experience of the store in concert with each venue’s unique theme and its services include custom product development, store design, merchandising and retail services. Event Network is headquartered in San Diego (www.eventnetwork.com).

Event Network was founded in 1998 and began with a store for the Titanic Artifact Exhibition in Boston. Larry Gilbert and Helen Sherman, co-founders of the company, led the effort to create a retail offering for Titanic (at the time, a fairly novel concept for museum exhibition retail).

“Event Network has clearly arrived at the right place, at the right time and with the right partners, and we look forward to an exciting future with our expanded Promus-Event Network family,” said Mr. Gilbert, co-founder and CEO of Event Network. “We appreciate that Promus is willing to invest over an extended period since we see so many opportunities for long-term growth.”

Promus Equity Partners is a private equity investment firm affiliated with Promus Holdings, a multi-family asset management firm.  Promus targets lower middle market companies with EBITDA’s of $15 million or less. Sectors of interest include consumer products, food & beverage, industrial products, manufacturing services, specialty materials, distribution, and business services.  The firm is based in Chicago (www.promusequity.com).

Piper Jaffray & Co. (www.piperjaffray.com) was the financial advisor to Event Network.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | January 25, 2018

Bunker Hill Exits Rizing

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Bunker Hill Capital has sold Rizing, a provider of SAP functional and technical consulting services, to One Equity Partners.

Rizing was formed by Bunker Hill in December 2014 to serve as the parent company of Vesta Partners, a provider of SAP Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) services; and /N SPRO, a provider of SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) services. Rizing is headquartered in Stamford, CT (www.rizing.com).

Editor’s note: SAP is a multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. The company’s Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software supports organizations by managing the lifecycle of physical assets resulting in reduced operating costs, better-managed capital expenditures, and asset utilization; and its Human Capital Management (HCM) software supports the process of recruiting, developing and optimizing an organization’s human resources.

“Together with an excellent management team, we built an SAP-centric consulting business through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth into one of the leading SAP consulting firms with 14 offices around the world,” said Mark DeBlois, a Managing Partner of Bunker Hill Capital.

Vesta was acquired by Bunker Hill in December 2012. The company operates a functional and technical consulting practice focused on EAM solution architecture and configuration for customers in asset intensive industries. The functional consulting practice is focused on architecting and integrating SAP EAM modules, which help customers track, manage and report on capital asset usage. Vesta has a specialization in the utilities, mining, rail, and oil & gas sectors. The company was founded in 2005 (www.vestapartners.com).

/N SPRO was acquired by Bunker Hill in August 2009. The company provides consulting services for SAP software such as SuccessFactors, SAP for Retail, SAP mobile solutions and SAP HCM (www.n-spro.com).

“We are very appreciative of Bunker Hill Capital and all they did to help us grow Rizing into the leading global SAP company that it is today,” said Mike Maiolo, CEO of Rizing. “The partners at Bunker Hill created a solid strategic framework while providing the right level of autonomy for us to successfully drive positive results.”

Bunker Hill makes control investments in companies with EBITDAs between $5 million and $20 million, and enterprise values up to $120 million.  Sectors of interest include industrial products, business services, consumer products, and specialty retail.  The firm has offices in Boston and San Diego (www.bunkerhillcapital.com).

“The Bunker Hill team was a true value-added partner and built a collaborative relationship with our team right from the beginning,” said Carl Graves, CFO of Rizing. “They took the time to understand our business and industry in order to provide a deep and comprehensive partnership with the Rizing management team.”

One Equity Partners, the buyer of Rizing, is a middle-market private equity firm that invests in industrial, healthcare, and technology companies that are based in North America and Europe. Since 2001, the firm has invested in more than 140 transactions worldwide. One Equity, founded in 2001, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015. The firm has offices in New York and Chicago, and an advisory office in Frankfurt, Germany (www.oneequity.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | January 25, 2018

Sentinel Closes on $2.6 Billion

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Sentinel Capital Partners has held a first and final closing of Sentinel Capital Partners VI LP with $2.1 billion of capital and Sentinel Junior Capital I LP with $460 million of capital. The junior capital fund will primarily serve as a mezzanine financing source for new Sentinel platform companies.

Limited partners in the new funds include college and university endowments, foundations, state and government retirement systems, corporate pension plans, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, investment advisors, family offices, and Taft-Hartley plans located in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, Australia, and the Middle East.

“We are delighted by this fundraising outcome and grateful for the strong show of support from our existing investors and several new prominent investors,” said David Lobel, founder and Managing Partner of Sentinel. “We are also very pleased to launch our inaugural junior capital fund, which will serve the financing needs of our lower middle market companies.”

Sentinel Capital Partners invests in management buyouts, recapitalizations, corporate divestitures, and going-private transactions of businesses with EBITDAs up to $65 million. Sentinel targets eight industry sectors: aerospace & defense, business services, consumer, distribution, food & restaurants, franchising, healthcare services, and industrials. The firm is headquartered in New York (www.sentinelpartners.com).

“Over the course of five private equity funds and 22 years, Sentinel has developed a consistent and reliable way of doing business that has proven appealing to corporate sellers, small business owners, institutional sellers, and management teams,” said John McCormack, Sentinel’s co-founder. “In many of the businesses we have invested in, our ability and willingness to tackle financial and business complexity and relationship-intensive situations have worked well for us.”

Sentinel’s earlier fund, Sentinel Capital Partners V LP, closed in July 2013 with $1.3 billion of committed capital and is approximately 80% invested.

The Private Fund Group of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) advised Sentinel on the raising of the new funds and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal services.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | January 25, 2018