Archives for March 7, 2018

Promus Acquires Quest

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Promus Equity Partners has acquired Quest Products in partnership with the company’s management team.

Quest Products is a consumer packaged goods company that manufactures and manages its own brands, distributes over 100 national brands, sells to retail and online stores, provides drop-ship services, and manages retail websites. Some of Quest’s top-selling brands include ALOCANE Emergency Burn Gel, ProVent skin solutions and natural oils, AlcoHAWK personal breathalyzers, CopperFixx pain relief cream and Blue Guard eye supplements.

Quest distributes over 7,000 SKUs and partners with most major chain and e-commerce retailers in North America and it is also a certified drop-ship fulfillment partner with over 40 online retailers. Customers of Quest include Walmart, Target, Meijer, Shopko, Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Costco, Sam’s Club Shoppers Drug Mart, Safeway, Publix, Amazon.com, Overstock.com, Best Buy, and Wayfair and others.

Simultaneous with the buy of Quest, the company completed the add-on acquisition of Clinere Products, a brand of patented, flexible ear cleaning tools that are designed to safely and effectively remove earwax, dirt, and debris out of ears. The company is based in Mundelein, IL (www.clinere.com).

Quest, founded in 2001, is led by Mike Brennan, Mark McGreevy, Mark Milliman and Don Ryan and is headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, WI (www.questproductsinc.com).

“The Quest management team has built a very impressive company, and we are honored to be part of the next stage of the company’s growth,” said Promus Partner Steve Brown. “We are eager to get to work to help build the company’s brands.”

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).

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Promus,” said Don Ryan, Quest’s founder. “Their involvement will help us expand our portfolio of products through internal growth and acquisition.”

Capstone Headwaters was the financial advisor to Quest Products. “We have discussed market timing for a recapitalization with Quest’s ownership for quite some time and we are pleased to have assisted them in the partnership with Promus this year,” said Ted Polk, Managing Director at Capstone Headwaters. “Quest has a very talented management team with a history of building strong consumer brands. We look forward to watching their continued success.”

Avante Mezzanine Partners (www.avantemezzanine.com) provided mezzanine debt and participated in the equity investment, while MB Financial (www.mbfinancial.com) provided a senior credit facility.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 7, 2018

Growth Catalyst Partners Adds to Opus

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Opus Agency, a portfolio company of Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP), has acquired CRG Events.

CRG Events provides management services including event logistics, event registration and onsite management. The company specializes in corporate conferences, meetings, product launches, roadshows, recognition and reward programs, and tradeshow management. CRG clients include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, and Columbia Sportswear among others. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Seattle (www.crgevents.com).

Opus Agency is a brand and marketing agency. The company specializes in event strategy, event production, event technology, social media marketing, creative design, airport marketing, promotional marketing, tradeshows, and branding. Opus Agency creates and manages hundreds of events and campaigns every year, all over the world, including executive-level summits, immersive brand experiences, and conferences. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in the Portland suburb of Beaverton, OR (www.opusagency.com).

“CRG’s deep event management experience and knowledge, combined with their proven registration services, enables us to give our clients even more of what they love about Opus,” said Monte Wood, CEO of Opus. “Their beautiful office in Seattle also provides the geographic presence we have been seeking for Opus.”

CRG’s long-time CEO, Leasa Mayer, will serve as executive vice president at Opus. “We are so thrilled to become a part of the Opus family,” said Ms. Mayer. “We have an incredibly complementary set of services and clients, but even more importantly, there is complete harmony where our cultures and philosophies are concerned. Choosing the best acquisition partner for my team was imperative, and I have the utmost respect for Monte and his leadership. I have no doubt that, together, we will deliver even greater success for our clients.”

Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP) invests in companies with EBITDA from $3 million to $12 million. Sectors of interest include marketing, information, media and business services with an emphasis on companies with a tech-enabled orientation. The firm was founded in April 2017 by Jim TenBroek, a former Managing Director at Wind Point Partners, and Scott Peters, the former Co-President of media-focused investment bank JEGI. GCP is based in Chicago with an office in Rowayton, CT (www.growthcatalystpartners.com).

Opus Agency has been a portfolio company of GCP (through its predecessor Fan Creek Capital) since October 2015.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 7, 2018

KLH Capital Buys Apogee Lighting

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KLH Capital has acquired Apogee Lighting, the owner of Apogee Translite and its sister company LumiNEXT Lighting.

Apogee Lighting is a manufacturer of specialty transit, industrial, and architectural LED lighting fixtures. Apogee Translite provides commercial-grade fixtures used by transit systems (including the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority) across the US. The company’s products are designed to meet the specific needs of transit applications including high pressure, vibration, metal dust, dampness, and vandalism (www.apogee-lighting.us).

LumiNEXT Lighting serves the architectural market and provides application specific, customized LED lighting systems that are used by lighting designers and architects (www.luminext.lighting).

Both Apogee Translite and LumiNEXT Lighting operate out of the company’s headquarters on Long Island in Deer Park, NY.

“Richard and his team have done an incredible job growing the company into a premier, custom lighting manufacturer addressing the needs of the country’s largest transit systems and commercial construction projects,” said Josh Kuder, a Partner at KLH Capital. “We are excited to partner with the company as they build upon their success and expand their business.”

“It has been a pleasure working with the KLH team on this transaction and I know their experience will be valuable to achieving our goals as we enter this next phase of our growth strategy,” said CEO Richard Nicolai. Mr. Nicolai and other members of the management team will be shareholders in Apogee Lighting in partnership with KLH.

KLH Capital is an SBIC-licensed private equity firm that invests in niche manufacturing, value-added distribution and specialty service companies with revenues of at least $10 million and EBITDA of at least $2 million. The firm is headquartered in Tampa (www.klhcapital.com).

Mezzanine financing for this acquisition was provided by Greensboro, NC-based Salem Investment Partners (www.salemip.com) and the senior debt was provided by Wayne, NJ-based Valley National Bank (www.valleynationalbank.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 7, 2018

New State Has Hard Cap Close

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New State Capital Partners has closed its second institutional investment fund, New State Capital Partners Fund II LP, at its hard cap of $255 million. The firm’s first fund closed in September 2016 with $131 million in committed capital.

New State invests from $10 million to $50 million of equity in companies with $8 million to $30 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include healthcare services, business services, and industrials. New State intends to invest in five to seven platforms with Fund II.

“We are very pleased and grateful for the strong response New State Fund II received,” said Dave Blechman, the founder and a Principal of New State. “New State strives to be a different kind of investment firm, with a flexible mandate, a true focus on buy-and-build, and active participation by senior professionals – and without the constraints of more institutional situations. With Fund II, we will apply our expertise and growth strategy to a strong group of platform companies. We look forward to the great relationships we will build with a new group of entrepreneurs as we seek to responsibly steward Fund II on behalf of our valued limited partners.”

No investments have been made by Fund II yet, but Fund I has four portfolio companies as follows: New Vista Behavioral Health, a Costa Mesa, CA-based provider of residential, partial hospitalization and outpatient treatment services for substance abuse disorders (www.newvistabh.com); NWN, a Waltham, MA-based provider of IT services to the healthcare, education, manufacturing, media, financial services, professional services, and state and local government sectors (www.nwnit.com); Global Holdings, a Tulsa, OK-based provider of account and payment processing services to the consumer debt settlement industry (www.globalclientsolutions.com); and Capitol Pain, an Austin, TX-based provider of pain management treatment services (www.capitolpain.com).

Since its founding in 2013, New State has invested in 18 companies including seven platform investments and now has more than $800 million in assets under management. The firm is headquartered near New York City in Larchmont, NY (www.newstatecp.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 7, 2018