Archives for March 9, 2018

Miller Environmental Acquires Belco

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Miller Environmental Services, a provider of industrial cleaning and environmental services and a portfolio company of Trinity Hunt since October 2014, has acquired Belco Industrial Services from Plexus Capital.

Belco Industrial Services is a specialty industrial services company serving the industrial, commercial, and governmental markets. The company provides mechanical services for the fabrication of tanks, pressure piping systems, and structural steel; lining and coatings services for chemical resistant rubber lining of tanks, vessels, piping, and equipment; industrial cleaning services including water blasting, hydro excavation, and cold cutting; and environmental services including tank cleaning, liquid/solid separation, waste minimization and sludge management.

Belco was founded as Bud Enterprise Lining Company in 1986 and changed its name in 2015. The company has facilities in Prairieville, LA (headquarters) and La Porte, TX (www.belcois.com).

Miller Environmental Services was founded in 1985 and provides industrial cleaning and environmental services to companies operating in the downstream, midstream, and upstream hydrocarbon processing markets. The company’s capabilities include vacuum truck services, tank cleaning, chemical cleaning, vapor control, hydro-blasting, waste management, and hydro-excavation. Miller has more than 400 employees at six facilities in Corpus Christi, TX (headquarters); Houston, TX; Beaumont, TX; Catarina, TX; Three Rivers, TX; and Sulphur, LA (www.millerenviro.com).

The buy of Belco will enable Miller to expand its offerings, particularly in mechanical services and lining and coatings services. The transaction will also allow Miller to expand its services into the chemicals market, an area in which Belco has deep customer relationships and expertise. Mike Rose, the current CEO of Belco, has been appointed as the COO of the combined Miller and Belco business following the acquisition.

Trinity Hunt is pursuing both an organic growth plan with a focus on expanding Miller’s operations along the Gulf Coast and pursuing add-on opportunities to expand the company’s geographic footprint and add complementary services to Miller’s existing services portfolio.

Trinity Hunt invests in companies that have EBITDAs between $5 million and $25 million and enterprise values between $25 million and $150 million. Sectors of interest include B2B business services, niche manufacturing, industrial services, non-cyclical consumer and healthcare services. Trinity Hunt is based in Dallas (www.trinityhunt.com).

Plexus Capital, the seller of Belco, invests up to $40 million of subordinated debt and equity in companies that have revenues of up to $150 million and EBITDA of up to $20 million. The firm invests across all industries. Since its founding in 2005, Plexus has raised $950 million of capital and invested in 88 companies. Plexus has offices in Charlotte and Raleigh, NC (www.plexuscap.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 9, 2018

Salt Creek Buys Sound Building Supply

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Salt Creek Capital has acquired Sound Building Supply, a manufacturer and distributor of metal flashing, roofing, and other building products used in residential and commercial applications.

Sound Building Supply (SBS) sells its product to both wholesalers and specialty retail companies in the construction supplies industry throughout Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. SBS was founded in 1978 by Diane Wilkins and Steven Wisner and is headquartered near Seattle in Renton, WA (www.soundbuildingsupply.com).

With the transaction now closed, SBS has named Richard Thome as its new CEO. “I am thrilled to have partnered with Salt Creek Capital to complete this acquisition and am eager to join the SBS team. The founders of SBS built an exceptional business with a sterling reputation, and I am honored to have the opportunity to continue building upon this legacy.” Mr. Thome joined Salt Creek as an Executive Partner in May 2017. Prior to joining Salt Creek, he was COO of Lansinoh Laboratories, a publicly-traded baby products company. Earlier in his career he was SVP Operations for Prestige Brands during its growth from a $25 million revenue company to a $375 million revenue company before going public in 2005.

“We could not be prouder of the SBS team and all the hard work that enabled us to achieve what we have over the past 40 years,” said Ms. Wilkins and Mr. Wisner is a released statement. “We were pleased that Salt Creek brought in a high-quality, proven CEO to help transition the business. The firm provided a solution to our needs for liquidity and our desire to transition our leadership responsibilities so that we could retire. The company is poised to enter a new period of growth, and we are confident that Richard and Salt Creek are capable of achieving success with our employees, customers and vendors.”

“Sound Building Supply is a strong business serving a growing region of the country, and we are delighted to partner with Richard to take on new growth initiatives and support the business in reaching its full potential,” said Daniel Price, a Salt Creek Capital Vice President. “Diane Wilkins and Steve Wisner built an outstanding company and we sincerely appreciate their support in completing the transaction.”

Salt Creek invests in executive-led buyouts of companies with up to $100 million in revenue and EBITDA from $750,000 to $5 million. Sectors of interest are varied making the firm nearly industry agnostic but areas of specific interest include manufacturing, business and consumer services, distribution, and franchisors. The firm is based in Menlo Park (www.saltcreekcap.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 9, 2018

Sterling Builds Construction Supply Group

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Construction Supply Group, a portfolio company of The Sterling Group, has acquired Zia Concrete Supply, a construction supply distributor owned by Mike and Grace Moore.

Zia Concrete is the seventh add-on acquisition completed by Construction Supply Group (CSG) under Sterling ownership. CSG was formed in November 2016 to acquire construction supply distribution companies Brock White Company, Border Construction Specialties, and Stetson Building Products. Today, CSG is a distributor of construction materials, accessories and tools used by professional concrete and masonry contractors in the United States and Canada. The company has more than70,000 SKUs and sells to more than 25,000 customers. CSG has 74 branches and more than 1,100 employees (www.constructionsupplygroup.com).

Zia Concrete Supply was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, NM (www.ziaconcrete.com).  With the close of the transaction, Zia Concrete will be integrated into CSG’s Southwestern business unit, Border Construction Specialties, which is led by its president Brian Saker.

“This acquisition furthers our goal of providing comprehensive service and product offerings to professional contractors across North America,” said Mitch Williams, CEO of Construction Supply Group.

The Sterling Group invests in manufacturing, industrial services and distribution companies that have enterprise values from $100 million to $750 million.  The firm emphasizes an operational approach in partnership with management teams to grow and improve the companies it acquires.  Sterling was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Houston (www.sterling-group.com).

The Sterling Group is continuing to seek add-on acquisitions for CSG.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 9, 2018

Juniper Closes Fund III

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Juniper Capital Advisors has closed its latest fund, Juniper Capital III LP, at its hard cap of $677.5 million which includes a $27.5 million general partner commitment.

“We are extremely thankful for the support and loyalty of our investors and are honored to have them as our partners. It is humbling to have such a diverse and experienced group express such a strong commitment to Juniper Capital III in such a short period of time,” said Edward Geiser, Managing Partner. “We remain excited about the investment opportunities that we are seeing, and look forward to using our unique network and approach to source and prosecute high-quality investments.”

As with earlier funds, Fund III will make lower middle-market equity investments of $25 million to $75 million in private oil and gas companies located in the continental United States. Since 2015, Juniper has invested in nine such companies located in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Michigan.

“The past few years have been one of the more tumultuous periods in the oil & gas industry that I have witnessed during my entire career. The quality and experience of the Juniper team, combined with our outstanding management team partners and our blue-chip investor base, has allowed us to capitalize on this volatility, and we expect to continue to generate value for our investors in Juniper Capital III,” said Richard Gordon, Partner.

Juniper was founded in 2003 and has twelve energy-focused professionals with backgrounds in finance, geology, engineering, operations, accounting and law. The firm is headquartered in Houston (www.juncap.com).

“The presence and reputation we have established in the marketplace for lower middle-market exploration and production investments continues to attract great management teams who want to partner with us,” said Kevin Cumming, Partner. “Our mix of technical and finance-oriented professionals allows us to evaluate potential investments quickly and ‘speak the same language’ with existing and potential partners.”

Latham & Watkins provided legal services to Juniper for this fundraise and the firm did not use a placement agent.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 9, 2018