Archives for June 15, 2018

GI Partners Creates Cryobank Platform

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GI Partners has agreed to acquire California Cryobank and Cord Blood Registry and will merge the two businesses to create a leading company in the stem cell storage and reproductive tissue services markets.

California Cryobank has been a portfolio company of Longitude Capital and NovaQuest Capital since August 2014 and Cord Blood Registry has been owned by AMAG, a biopharmaceutical company based in Waltham, MA, since June 2015. The acquisitions of California Cryobank and Cord Blood Registry are expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.

California Cryobank (CCB) provides frozen donor sperm and egg services, reproductive tissue storage, and cord blood/tissue banking. The company is registered with the FDA, accredited by both the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), and is licensed by the states of California and New York. CCB, founded in 1977, has 210 employees and a 20,000-square foot state-of-the-art cryogenic storage facility at its headquarters in Los Angeles (www.californiacryobank.com).

Cord Blood Registry (CBR) is the world’s largest newborn stem cell company and stores samples from more than 600,000 children. CBR has helped more than 400 families use their cord blood stem cells for established and experimental medical treatments, more than any other family cord blood bank. The company is registered with the FDA and accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). CBR was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, CA and has an 80,000-square foot laboratory in Tucson, AZ (www.cordblood.com).

“We have been following the growing and dynamic reproductive and stem cell space for several years and were attracted to these two companies by their robust customer and market characteristics,” said Dave Kreter, Managing Director at GI Partners. “Their combination represents a unique opportunity to create a new platform better positioned to further expand their industry-leading capabilities. We are excited to collaborate with management to extend the combined company’s capabilities internationally and make critical investments to support its next phase of growth.”

GI Partners makes control equity investments in companies with enterprise values of $250 million to $1 billion that are active in the IT infrastructure, healthcare, software, and services sectors. In November 2017, the firm held a final closing of GI Partners Fund V LP at an oversubscribed and hard cap of $2.8 billion. The buys and merger of CCB and CBR will represent the fifth platform investment for this fund. GI Partners was founded in 2001 and is based in San Francisco (www.gipartners.com).

“CCB and CBR are market leaders with significant brand recognition in their respective end markets. The combination of these two exceptional companies will create a natural one-stop shop for meeting customers’ reproductive and stem cell storage needs,” said Howard Park, Managing Director at GI Partners.”

“We are excited to partner with GI Partners in pursuing significant growth and expansion opportunities that lie ahead for our combined company,” said Richard Jennings, CEO of CCB, who will continue on as CEO of the combined business.  “As a combined entity with GI Partners’ support, we are well positioned to continue our mission of helping grow and protect healthy families around the world.”

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | June 15, 2018

Inverness Graham Acquires LED Platform

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Inverness Graham has acquired EiKO Global,  a distributor of branded LED (light emitting diode) lamps and fixtures, as a first step in building a larger LED lighting platform.

EiKO Global has more than 5,000 SKU’s and sells its products, through same‐day shipments and two‐day turnarounds, to more than 1,700 US customers that are active in the electrical, commercial, audiovisual, medical, photographic, and stage/studio markets. EiKO, led by CEO Rick Laird, was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Shawnee, KS with additional distribution facilities in Sparks, NV; near Philadelphia in Pennsauken, NJ; and Houston, TX (www.eiko.com).

“Over the past several years, EiKO has delivered revenue and EBITDA growth that has outpaced the market,” said Mr. Laird. “We believe the partnership with Inverness Graham and their strong operational focus will support our fulfillment optimization and expand our new product offerings and customer base.   We are proud of what we’ve accomplished so far but look forward to what the future holds with Inverness Graham.”

“The EiKO opportunity arose from a proactive search in the lighting market,” said Michael Morrissey, Managing Principal of Inverness Graham. “The company is well positioned to continue to benefit from the conversion to LED solutions from traditional fluorescent lighting. EiKO’s broad product portfolio, coupled with its ability to quick‐ship products sets the company apart.  We intend to leverage EiKO’s unique position within the lighting marketplace to drive both acquisitive and organic growth initiatives.”

Inverness Graham manages $500 million in capital and was formed by senior executives of the Graham Group, an industrial and investment concern with interests in plastics, packaging, recycling, building products and outsourced manufacturing.  Inverness Graham is based near Philadelphia in Newtown Square, PA (www.invernessgraham.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | June 15, 2018

Stone Canyon Adds-On to BWAY

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BWAY Holding Company, a manufacturer of rigid metal and plastic containers and a portfolio company of Stone Canyon Industries, has agreed to acquire Industrial Container Services (ICS), a portfolio company of Centerbridge Partners. Stone Canyon acquired BWAY from Platinum Equity in June 2016.

The ICS transaction has an enterprise value of approximately $1 billion and the consideration is payable to ICS shareholders in both cash and stock of BWAY. At closing, ICS equity holders will have an approximate 11% interest in BWAY.

Industrial Container Services (ICS) was acquired by Centerbridge from Aurora Capital Group in April 2017. ICS is among the largest providers of reusable bulk containers in North America.  Through its network of 49 facilities across the United States and Canada, ICS collects, reconditions and distributes over 10 million steel, poly and intermediate bulk containers annually.

Within its industry, ICS is the only company capable of offering comprehensive services, including pickup and reconditioning of containers of all major packaging types, new container manufacturing and distribution, to customers nationally. ICS is led by CEO Charles Veniez and is headquartered north of Orlando in Maitland, FL (www.iconserv.com).

BWAY Holding Company (BWAY) operates through two subsidiaries – BWAY and Mauser Group – and has more than 9,000 employees at 115 plants across 20 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America. The BWAY subsidiary manufactures rigid metal containers including paint cans, steel pails, aerosol cans, F-style containers, monotop cans, pour top cans, ammunition boxes and oil cans. BWAY also manufactures rigid plastic packaging including pails, drums, and hybrid paint cans. The Mauser Group subsidiary (acquired by BWAY from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in April 2017) manufactures plastic packaging, fiber drums, steel drums, intermediate bulk containers, and provides reconditioning services through its subsidiary National Container Group.  BWAY is led by CEO Ken Roessler and has an executive office near Chicago in Oak Brook, IL and a corporate office in Atlanta, GA (www.bwaycorp.com).

“We have a tremendous platform with National Container Group, and ICS not only complements our existing portfolio, but is the ideal partner to further our strategy of providing sustainable packaging solutions to our customers,” said Mr. Roessler. “I look forward to working with Charles Veniez and the ICS team to bring the businesses together and create meaningful shareholder value.”

Stone Canyon invests in companies valued between $50 million and $1 billion. Sectors of interest include consumer and retail; food and ingredients; industrial; technology and business services; and transportation. The firm was founded in 2014 and is led by Co-CEOs James Fordyce and Adam Cohn and is headquartered in Los Angeles (www.stonecanyonllc.com).

At closing of the transaction, Centerbridge Senior Managing Director Kyle Cruz will join the board of BWAY. Centerbridge invests from $50 million to $300 million in US-based leveraged buyouts and distressed securities. The firm has $28 billion of capital under management and is headquartered in New York with an additional office in London (www.centerbridge.com).

Committed debt financing for this transaction has been obtained from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, BMO Capital Markets, and Citigroup Global Markets.

Goldman Sachs served as the financial advisor to Stone Canyon and Piper Jaffray & Co. served as the financial advisor to Industrial Container Services.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | June 15, 2018