Audax Private Equity has acquired Protective Industrial Products Global Holdings in partnership with the company’s founding Milot and Tao families.
Protective Industrial Products (PIP Global) is a provider of hand protection products and other consumable personal protective equipment (PPE). The company’s products, which total more than 3500 SKUs, include hand and arm, eye, head, hearing, body, and respiratory protection and are sold under an array of brand names including G-tek, Bouton Optical, Safety Works, Ambi-dex, Assurance, Falcon, Kut-Gard, and Maximum Safety. PIP’s hand protection products include chemical-protective gloves, cut-resistant gloves, mechanics’ gloves, cleanroom gloves, food-service handling gloves, and gloves to protect against heat and cold. PIP Global has more than 300 employees and more than $200 million in annual sales.
PIP Global has multiple manufacturing and distribution facilities in the US (totaling 500,000 sq. ft.) and additional capabilities in Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, and China. The company was founded in 1984 by Joe Milot and Wellson Tao and is headquartered in Latham, NY (www.pipglobal.com).
“PIP Global is a recognized leader in the consumable safety products market that has grown significantly during the last three decades,” said Geoffrey Rehnert, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Audax Group. “We look forward to supporting Joe Milot, his family, the Tao family and the entire PIP Global team to continue growing the business organically and through acquisitions.”
“We’re excited to partner with Audax as we continue to build the PIP platform and truly become the global go-to supplier to distributors, dealers, and retailers for all their consumable PPE requirements,” said Joe Milot, President and CEO. “Audax’ resources will help us accelerate our growth as we expand into new geographies, end markets, and product lines.”
Audax Group makes control investments of $10 million to $100 million in middle market companies with transaction values of $25 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include industrial manufacturing; energy; outsourced industrial services; consumer products; healthcare devices and services; non-asset based logistics; technology; aerospace & defense; business services; and direct marketing. The firm was founded in 1999 and has offices in Boston, New York and Menlo Park (www.audaxgroup.com).
EC Mergers and Acquisitions was the financial advisor to PIP Global, and the Milot and Tao families. The firm’s focus is on middle market transactions typically in the $25 million to $500 million valuation range (www.ec-ma.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | February 5, 2018
