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Blue Wolf Capital Partners has merged two of its portfolio companies – Pearl Technologies and TGW Holdings – to create Edge Industrial Technologies.

Edge Industrial Technologies brings together a century-old, British family owned business and an American engineering and manufacturing company and it immediately becomes a leading provider of aftermarket consumables to the food processing, packaging, converting and extrusion industries worldwide.

The company manufactures machine knives, blades, cutters, punches, perforators, sealers, machine adapters and carriages, air cylinders, assemblies, and ball punches. It also provides bubble guides, chilled bubble cages, collapsing frame guides, slats and gusset boards to enhance the performance of blown film extrusion equipment. In addition to creating custom and specialty blades, Edge designs cutting-edge engineering, sharpening and training services for its products.

Edge Industrial will be headquartered in Wilder, KY (located eight miles south of Cincinnati) with manufacturing facilities and operations in Sheffield, UK; Savannah, NY; and Indore, India.

Blue Wolf acquired TGW, a manufacturer of industrial knives, in May 2018. TGW’s knives are made from a variety of materials including carbon steel, stainless steel, powdered metal, tungsten carbide, and ceramics, and are used in wide range of applications in the packaging, processing, printing and converting industries. Most of the company’s knives are available in stock and can be available for same-day shipping. TGW was founded in Sheffield, England in 1908 by Thomas Gilbert Wolstenholme, a descendent of George Wolstenholme who began a small business manufacturing cutlery in 1745. In 1993, the company established TGW International to expand its business to the North American market and in 2011 it opened a manufacturing facility in India. Today, TGW employs 160 people globally and has offices and facilities in Sheffield, UK; Wilder, KY; and Indore, India (www.tgwglobal.com).

Blue Wolf acquired Pearl Technologies, a manufacturer of consumable parts for converting and extrusion capital equipment, in October 2012. The company is based near Syracuse in Savannah, NY (www.pearltechinc.com).

“The combined scale, broad geographic footprint and strong commitment to customer service and quality products means that the combined company is well positioned for long-term growth,” said Michael Ranson, Partner at Blue Wolf.

“Combining TGW and Pearl is about bringing together two industry powerhouses to fuel topline growth. We have reached this critical milestone as a result of the hard work and dedication of generations of employees selling superior products around the world,” said Rick Tattersfield, the recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of Edge Industrial. An operating partner at Blue Wolf, Mr. Tattersfield previously sat on the boards of Pearl and TGW. “The team at Blue Wolf has expertise in helping to scale businesses, and we look forward to working with them to grow Edge Industrial and enable it to reach its full potential.”

Robert Woodbury, Jr. is joining Edge Industrial as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer. He has over thirty years of experience in financial management with engineering-based multi-national companies. Prior to joining Edge Industrial, Mr. Woodbury served as CFO at QD Vision, GT Solar and Brooks Automation.

In addition to Mr. Tattersfield and Mr. Woodbury, other senior executives from both Pearl and TGW will join the senior management team of Edge Industrial: Laurent Cros, previously CEO of Pearl, has been appointed President of Edge Industrial North America Operations; Steve Corbett, previously Operations Director of TGW, has been appointed President of Edge Industrial European Operations; and Tim White, previously Sales and Marketing Manager of TGW International, has been appointed Vice President of Sales & Marketing and General Manager of Edge Industrial, Wilder facility.

Blue Wolf invests in companies in which management of relationships with complex constituencies – such as government and labor – can change organizations and create value. The firm’s investment criteria are minimum revenues of $25 million; minimum transaction size of $20 million; and a minimum investment size of $10 million. Blue Wolf is headquartered in New York (www.blue-wolf.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | September 18, 2018

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