Solace Capital Partners has acquired CST Industries, one of the world’s largest tank and dome manufacturers.
CST Industries filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in June 2017 and the court approved the sale to Solace Capital in November 2017. The Sterling Group had acquired CST Industries in August 2006 from George K. Baum Capital Partners.
Founded in 1893, CST Industries (originally known as Columbian Steel Tank) is the largest manufacturer of steel tanks and covers in the world. The company operates through three divisions – CST Storage, CST Covers and Vulcan Tanks – and its products are sold to customers in the agriculture, industrial liquids, oil and gas, water and wastewater, and bioenergy markets. The company has an installed base of more than 350,000 storage tanks and 18,000 covers across 125 countries. CST has nine sales offices across the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, UAE, Vietnam and Australia and operates five manufacturing facilities located in North America and Europe. CST is led by its CEO Tim Carpenter and is headquartered in Kansas City (www.cstindustries.com).
“CST is a market leader with a blue-chip customer base, diversified revenue streams and many exciting growth opportunities,” said Christopher Brothers, a Managing Partner at Solace. “As global demand for storage tanks and covers increases, we believe CST is well positioned to leverage its scale, unique engineering and manufacturing expertise, strong and growing order backlog and significantly strengthened balance sheet to meet the needs of its customers worldwide. We are excited to partner with CEO Tim Carpenter and his team to support CST’s business objectives.”
Solace Capital Partners makes control-oriented special situations and distressed-for-control investments of $10 million to $75 million in complex, distressed or capital-constrained, companies that have revenues from $50 million to $1 billion. Sectors of interest include industrial and manufacturing, energy, infrastructure and construction services, transportation and logistics, consumer, business services, financial services, aerospace, gaming and leisure, and technology, media and telecommunications. The firm was founded in 2014 and has offices in Los Angeles and New York (www.solacecap.com).
“This is an exciting new chapter for our company. Over the past 18 months, we have made significant operational improvements across all facets of the business, enhancing our safety, quality, delivery, manufacturing proficiency, responsiveness and customer satisfaction,” said Mr. Carpenter. “We are thrilled to partner with Solace, which recognizes the opportunities in our business and will help us reach our full potential.”
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | January 3, 2018
