Auxo Building Die Cutting Platform
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Auxo Building Die Cutting Platform

Auxo Investment Partners has acquired Midway Rotary Die Solutions, adding a fourth company to its portfolio of die makers.

Midway designs, manufactures and sharpens dies for customers in the automotive, packaging, medical, food processing, tag-and-label, specialty and photo-cutting industries. The company also offers multi-stage heat treatment processes, cryogenic treatment, carton prototyping and technical support. Midway is headquartered near Lansing in Williamston, MI (www.midwayrotary.com).

“It was our dream when we bought Midway in 1985 with six employees to build it into a world-class organization,” said Rich Seeley, CEO of Midway, who will retire following the transition to new ownership. “We spent the last 33 years providing the highest-quality products and service in our industry, and we couldn’t be more pleased to find, in Auxo, a partner who can help our colleagues continue to grow and develop opportunities to provide further innovation and value to our customers.”

“We are excited to grow our platform with Midway’s strong legacy and highly skilled, dedicated workforce,” said Auxo Managing Partner Jack Kolodny. “We look forward to helping steward Midway through the next phase of its growth by making long-term investments and enhancing its growth-related infrastructure.”

Midway joins Auxo’s other investments in the die manufacturing sector including Bernal Rotary Dies (acquired September 2017), a Rochester Hills, MI-based maker of complex solid rotary pressure dies, crush cut dies, and rotary converting systems for die cutting, food processing, folding cartons, specialty bandages and alcohol swabs; Atlas Die (acquired September 2017), an Elkhart, IN-based maker of flexible rotary dies used in the consumer products, packaging, food and beverage, commercial print, medical and pharmaceutical industries; and Atlas Chem-Milling (acquired September 2017), an Elkhart, IN-based maker of custom cutting dies, including flexible rotary and flat dies.

“Combining Midway with our existing portfolio of die producers allows us to offer our customers an increasingly broad, innovative suite of capabilities, helping them to deliver superior quality and efficiency in their own businesses,” said Ken Smott, who, with this acquisition, becomes CEO of Midway in addition to his existing leadership duties at Atlas Die and Bernal Rotary Dies.

“Midway’s addition to our cutting-die platform is the latest step in Auxo’s journey to thoughtfully and strategically align market participants,” said Auxo Managing Partner Jeff Helminski. “We create extraordinary value by providing a complete product offering across the entire spectrum of cutting and converting needs for customers who value technology, reliability and production efficiency. And we will continue to grow this platform organically and acquisitively with partners who share our passion for innovation and solving complex production challenges.”

Auxo – named after the ancient Greek goddess of growth – invests in North America-based manufacturing, industrial, value-added distribution or business services companies that have EBITDA from $1.5 million to $15 million. The firm prefers majority-control investments but will consider select minority-partner opportunities. Auxo is headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI (www.auxopartners.com).

Grand Rapids, MI-based NuVescor Group (www.NuVescor.com) was the financial advisor to Midway Rotary Die Solutions.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | August 10, 2018

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