Archives for August 17, 2018

Dominus Buys BluSky from KLH

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Dominus Capital has acquired BluSky Restoration Contractors from KLH Capital which acquired the company in May 2015.

BluSky provides restoration, renovation, environmental and roofing services to commercial and multifamily real estate projects across the US and in Puerto Rico. The company’s services include fire damage restoration; smoke mitigation; storm damage restoration; water, flood, and sewage mitigation and restoration; asbestos abatement and testing; lead-based paint remediation; mold remediation; and roof damage assessment, repair, and replacement.

BluSky, headquartered near Denver in Centennial, CO and led by CEO Kent Stemper, has 17 corporate and regional offices in Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Kansas, and California (www.goblusky.com).

“Over the past few months, our executive leadership team interviewed several private equity firms, and, in the end, the team chose exactly the right partner for BluSky, Dominus Capital,” said Mr. Stemper. “For us, our culture is paramount. Dominus clearly understood this. Their expertise in growing middle-market firms and partnering with them on strategic acquisitions is exactly what is needed for us at this stage.”

“We are looking forward to partnering with Kent and the entire management team at BluSky,” said Ashish Rughwani, a Partner at Dominus. “We are eager to apply our network and knowledge of the restoration and environmental remediation space to support the company’s strong organic growth potential and pursue add-on acquisitions in adjacent geographies and complementary service offerings.”

Dominus Capital makes control equity investments in North American middle market companies that have at least $10 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include business services, consumer products and services, and light industrial. The firm was founded by Gary Binning, Bob Haswell, and Ashish Rughwani – all former Quad-C Management executives – in 2008. The group of founding partners was later joined by several CEOs of past portfolio companies that now serve as operating partners of the firm.  Dominus Capital is headquartered in New York (www.dominuscap.com).

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).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | August 17, 2018

White Oak Group Adds to PRISM

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PRISM Spectrum Holdings, a portfolio company of The White Oak Group, has acquired Environmental Holdings Group, an environmental and demolition contractor.

Environmental Holdings Group (EHG) is a provider of environmental hazard abatement and interior and structural demolition for institutional, commercial and industrial customers located in the southern region of the US. EHG’s abatement services include asbestos, lead paint, mold, and other hazardous materials. The company was founded in 2001 and has completed more than 6,000 environmental and demolition projects in its history. EHG, headquartered in Raleigh, NC, has seven offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida (www.ehgllc.com).

“We have known PRISM’s leadership since the early 90’s and our collective organizational priorities are a natural fit,” says BJ Fungaroli, CEO of EHG and future COO of PRISM. “We are excited to bring our national and regional award-winning safety, operational and business platforms to aid in the growth of PRISM.

PRISM is a specialty contractor that provides asbestos abatement, interior demolition, mold remediation, and disaster restoration services to commercial, industrial, manufacturing, and state and federal government customers nationwide. Operating companies owned by PRISM include PRISM Response, Spectrum Environmental, and Copper Environmental. The company, headquartered in Pittsburgh, was founded in 2010 and has six offices in Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Montana and Arizona (www.prismresponse.com).

“EHG’s dedication to safety and operational excellence, along with their substantial geographic reach and infrastructure, is going to bolster PRISM’s industry leadership. We are building a company whose robust technical and operational capacity will be the top in the industry, giving our customers a partner that has impeccable safety standards and experience,” said PRISM CEO Shawn Regan.

According to Engineering News Record Magazine, PRISM is consistently ranked in the Top 10 of asbestos abatement contractors and EHG is ranked as one of the top 5 largest abatement firms. The acquisition of EHG is part of a strategic expansion by PRISM, supported by its investor group to increase its geographical reach, client diversification, and service capabilities.

“We are excited about the combination of PRISM and EHG and resulting capabilities it affords clients in the markets we serve,” said Chris Melton, Chairman and CEO of White Oak. “The companies have worked together in the past and share a common ‘customer-first’ culture while building a great work environment for their employees.”

The White Oak Group invests in lower middle market companies in the service and technology industries that derive a majority of their revenue from government contracting. Typical target companies will have at least $10 million in revenue and $1 million in EBITDA. Sectors of interest include aerospace and defense, environmental services; and information technology. The firm is based in Atlanta (www.thewhiteoakgroup.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | August 17, 2018

Silver Oak Acquires Innovative Discovery

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Silver Oak Services Partners has acquired Innovative Discovery in partnership with the company’s senior management team.

Innovative Discovery (ID) provides forensics, electronic data discovery, hosting, project management, production and managed review services to more than 180 law firms, corporations and government agencies throughout the US and Canada. The company, founded in 2005 by its CEO Allen Outlaw, has offices in Arlington, VA (headquarters); Washington, DC; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; and Brussels, Belgium (www.id-edd.com).

“This is an exciting opportunity for Innovative Discovery to enhance our position as a market-leading eDiscovery company providing the highest quality service and offering a broad suite of innovative solutions to our clients,” said Mr. Outlaw. “Equally important, our partnership with Silver Oak has enabled us to get a considerable amount of equity into the hands of our management team.”

According to Silver Oak, the firm was attracted to an investment in the eDiscovery sector given the proliferation of electronically stored information and heightened complexity of the regulatory and compliance environment driving growth in demand for eDiscovery services.

Silver Oak and ID are actively looking for add-on acquisition opportunities. “We are excited to partner with the team at ID.  The company has developed a strong reputation as a high-quality provider of end-to-end eDiscovery solutions, and we look forward to working with them to execute their growth strategy,” said Greg Barr, Managing Partner at Silver Oak.

Silver Oak Services Partners makes control investments of $10 million to $30 million in companies with revenues from $15 million to $150 million and EBITDAs from $4 million to $20 million. As the firm name implies, sectors of interest include business, healthcare, and consumer services.  Silver Oak was founded in 2005 and is based in the Chicago suburb of Evanston (www.silveroaksp.com). The firm is currently investing out of its third fund which closed in March 2016 at its $335 million hard cap.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | August 17, 2018

Ancor and Sentinel Finish WellSpring Exits

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Ancor Capital Partners and Sentinel Capital Partners have sold WellSpring Pharma Services to publicly-traded ANI Pharmaceuticals for $18 million in cash.

Ancor and Sentinel acquired Sarasota, FL-based WellSpring Pharmaceutical in November 2011. At that time, the company consisted of three divisions; a consumer portfolio of over-the-counter health and personal care products; a portfolio of specialty prescription drugs; and a contract manufacturer of pharmaceutical products. The prescription drug business was sold in 2014 and the consumer healthcare division was sold in 2017. This transaction represents the sale of the contract manufacturing operation, the final WellSpring business segment.

WellSpring Pharma Services (WPS) is a pharmaceutical contract manufacturer of nonsterile finished dosage form products, including solids, semisolids, and oral liquids and suspensions. The company also provides primary and secondary packaging as part of its services. WPS has annual revenues of $15 million to $20 million.

WPS, led by CEO Wendy Shusko, has a 101,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility located near Toronto in Oakville, ON (www.wellspringcmo.com).

“We are extremely pleased with our WellSpring business investment,” said Randall Keene, a founding partner at Ancor. “On our watch, the operation was able to advance its position as a market leader and has emerged into a powerful platform poised for continued and sustainable growth.”

Ancor Capital Partners invests in companies with enterprise values of $25 million to $150 million that have EBITDAs from $5 million to $15 million. Sectors of interest include manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, consumer staples, and outsourcing. The firm is headquartered in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, TX (www.ancorcapital.com).

“Along with our outstanding partners on this deal, Sentinel, and the leadership of WellSpring CEO Wendy Shusko, we have been able to achieve a number of key strategic initiatives over the course of this investment. I am confident the company’s talented management team and state-of-the-art facilities will continue to drive them toward new opportunities in the industry,” added Mr. Keene.

Sentinel Capital Partners invests in management buyouts, recapitalizations, corporate divestitures, and going-private transactions of businesses with EBITDAs up to $65 million. Sentinel targets eight industry sectors: aerospace & defense, business services, consumer, distribution, food & restaurants, franchising, healthcare, and industrials. The firm is headquartered in New York (www.sentinelpartners.com).

ANI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ANIP), the buyer of WPS, is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and manufactures liquid, powder and oral solid dose products. ANI also provides contract manufacturing services for other pharmaceutical companies. The company has a combined manufacturing, packaging and lab capacity of approximately 170,000 sq. ft. and is headquartered in Baudette, MN (www.anipharmaceuticals.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | August 17, 2018