Brazos Private Equity Partners has sold BlackHawk Industrial Distribution to Snow Phipps Group.
BlackHawk Industrial Distribution was formed by Brazos in 2010 in partnership with Bill Scheller, the former CEO and President of ORS Nasco, a wholesale distributor of industrial supplies and a portfolio company of Brazos that was sold to United Stationers in 2007. In September 2010 BlackHawk made is first acquisition with the purchase of Duncan Industrial Solutions (Oklahoma City, OK) and in December 2010 acquired Rogers Industrial Supply (Fort Smith, AR). Both Duncan and Rogers are distributors of name-brand industrial MRO supplies and equipment.
Over the past 8 years, BlackHawk has grown through a total of 14 add-on acquisitions to become one of the top 30 North American industrial distributors. The company focuses primarily on technical, recurring and consumable segments within industrial distribution, with an emphasis on the cutting tools and abrasives product category. The company has a national footprint that includes locations across North America and offers a portfolio of over one million SKUs. BlackHawk is headquartered near Tulsa in Broken Arrow, OK (www.blackhawkid.com).
“We could not be more pleased with the success of BlackHawk,” said Randall Fojtasek, current Managing Partner of CenterOak Partners and former Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Brazos. CenterOak was launched in September 2014 by Mr. Fojtasek, the former co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Brazos Private Equity Partners. He leads the firm alongside former Brazos senior executives Michael Salim, Lucas Cutler, Jason Sutherland and William Henry. CenterOak closed its first fund, CenterOak Equity Fund I LP, at its hard cap of $420 million in July 2016.
“We have a long track record of investing in specialty distribution businesses across numerous end markets and this transaction represents the successful execution of our investment thesis in the industrial distribution space,” added Mr. Fojtasek. “While completing five platform and 15 add-on investments for CenterOak, our team has also worked tirelessly to build BlackHawk and maximize value for our partners. We are thrilled with the outcome for our investors and for the management team, and we wish them continued success.”
“It has been an incredible run with the team and I have truly enjoyed the partnership, leveraging their expertise in the space to generate value for shareholders,” said Bill Scheller, former BlackHawk CEO and current CenterOak Operating Partner. “BlackHawk has built a leading market position over the last eight years, and we wish the current CEO John Mark and his team success as they focus on the continued growth of the business.”
“We have completed two successful investments and exits alongside Bill Scheller in the industrial distribution space and look forward to working with Bill on a third distribution opportunity at CenterOak Partners,” added Mr. Fojtasek.
CenterOak makes equity investments of $20 million to $90 million in companies with enterprise values of $50 million to $250 million. Sectors of interest include industrial distribution and manufacturing, business services, and consumer. CenterOak is based in Dallas (www.centeroakpartners.com).
Snow Phipps, the buyer of BlackHawk, makes control investments in companies primarily located in North America with enterprise values ranging from $100 million to $500 million that require equity investments ranging from $50 million to $150 million. Sectors of interest include industrials, services, and consumer. The firm was co-founded by Ian Snow and Ogden Phipps in April 2005. Snow Phipps is headquartered in New York (www.snowphipps.com).
Brazos Private Equity Partners, the seller of BlackHawk, is based in Dallas (www.brazospartners.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | September 18, 2018
