Peak Rock Capital has sold Precision Global, a maker of aerosol valves and actuators, to ONCAP, the middle-market private equity platform of Onex Corporation.
Precision Valve’s products are used in a variety of end markets including personal care, household, food & beverage, industrial and pharmaceutical. The company has more than 12,000 SKUs and, according to the company, is the largest supplier of aerosol valves in the world selling more than four billion units annually. Precision Valve also sells more than two billion actuators annually.
Precision Valve was founded in 1949 by Robert Abplanalp and two partners to manufacture a new type of aerosol valve that Mr. Abplanalp had invented and patented. At that time, aerosol technology was not new, but the metal valves on aerosol cans were unreliable, easily corroded and expensive to produce. Mr. Abplanalp used plastic in a model that could be mass produced, lowering the price per valve, to 2 1/2 cents from 15 cents. Mr. Abplanalp is considered by some to be the Henry Ford of the packaging industry. Today, led by CEO Mario Barbero, Precision Valve employs more than 1,500 people across 18 facilities in 15 countries and is headquartered in Greenville, SC (www.precisionglobal.com).
“Precision serves a growing market with high-quality, reliable and innovative products that are critical to its customers and end users,” said Ryan Mashinter, a Managing Director with ONCAP. “We are excited to partner with Precision’s management team to accelerate the company’s growth both organically and through acquisitions for years to come.”
Peak Rock acquired Precision Valve in May 2015 from MML Capital Partners. “The Peak Rock team has been an invaluable partner over the last three years, supporting Precision’s significant investment in our product capabilities, global leadership organization, and exciting growth initiatives,” said Mr. Barbero. “As we move forward, the company is excited to work with ONCAP to continue to grow our business globally.”
ONCAP is the mid-market private equity platform of Onex Corporation (TSX: ONEX) which makes private equity investments through the Onex Partners and the ONCAP families of funds. Onex has more than $25 billion of assets under management and is based in Toronto with additional offices in New York, New Jersey and London (www.onex.com).
“We are extremely proud of all that Precision and its outstanding management team have achieved over the past few years, with Peak Rock’s backing,” said Robert Strauss, a Managing Director of Peak Rock. “Precision’s investments in its manufacturing assets and team across the globe have resulted in outstanding growth and profit improvement and have positioned the company for long-term success.”
Peak Rock makes debt and equity investments of $20 million to $150 million in middle market companies with revenues from $50 million to $1 billion and enterprise values from $25 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include business and commercial services; consumer; distribution and logistics; energy and related services; healthcare; industrials; manufacturing, metals, and media. The firm is based in Austin (www.peakrockcapital.com).
“This transaction highlights Peak Rock’s capabilities to support the growth of global middle-market businesses,” said Anthony DiSimone, Chief Executive Officer of Peak Rock. “We look forward to continuing to pursue opportunities in the packaging industry as well as companies with a diverse, multinational footprint that can benefit from Peak Rock’s strategic and operational expertise and collaboration.”
Harris Williams & Co. (www.harriswilliams.com) was the financial advisor to Precision Global and Kirkland & Ellis (www.kirkland.com) provided legal services.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | August 7, 2018
