Archives for October 17, 2018

Validor Acquires BICO Steel

by

Validor Capital has acquired BICO Steel, a steel service center that processes heavy carbon steel plate and forged specialty alloy steel. All the members of the BICO senior management team invested alongside Validor in the transaction.

BICO’s heavy carbon steel plate and forged specialty alloy steel are used in products in the molding, process equipment, stamping, and capital equipment industries. BICO’s customers serve a diverse group of end markets including aerospace, automotive, canning, paper conversion, consumer goods, building products, and oil and gas.

BICO (formerly The Burger Iron Company) was founded in 1896 and has operations in Akron, OH and Grand Rapids, MI (www.bicosteel.com).

Validor Capital makes control investments of up to $20 million in privately held US-based small to middle-market manufacturing, industrial, and business services companies. Typical target companies will have revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA of up to $10 million. Validor is led by its Managing Partner Matthew Kaufman and is based in Boca Raton (www.validorcap.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 17, 2018

LLR Invests in Edlio

by

LLR Partners has made a growth capital investment in Edlio, a provider of community engagement services for K-12 public, private and charter schools.

Edlio provides comprehensive and easy-to-use communication packages for school administrators, teachers and parents. Edlio’s content management system (CMS) supports over 9,700 websites for schools and districts across the US, Canada and Latin America, and allows teachers and administrators to seamlessly manage their school’s web presence, calendars, news alerts, classes and homework.

Edlio’s parent engagement app, Sangha, connects schools to home with personalized communication for parents, including mass notification and two-way parent/teacher messaging, online forms and e-signatures and built-in reminders. The company, led by CEO Ali Arsan, has offices in Los Angeles (headquarters) and Mountain View, CA; Austin, TX; Chicago, IL; Mexico City, Mexico; and Vancouver, BC (www.edlio.com).

The investment from LLR will be used to support Edlio’s continued market expansion via organic growth and acquisitions. “We are thrilled to partner with LLR for our next stage of growth and excited by the team’s track record of investing in and helping to advance other leading education technology businesses,” said Mr. Arsan. “With the support of LLR, we will continue to expand and enhance our solutions both organically and through acquisitions of market-leading products, solving new pain points for our loyal clients.”

“Ali and the Edlio team combine tremendous passion and commitment with best-in-class technology to help educators engage and simplify communication with parents and the broader community, making an impact for students,” said Zack Sigal, Vice President at LLR Partners. “We look forward to supporting Edlio in its continued growth, innovation of its platform with new features and functionality and expansion into new markets.”

LLR Partners invests from $15 million to $100 million in companies that have up to $100 million in annual revenue and are active in the education, financial, healthcare, security and software sectors.  The firm will invest in minority or majority equity positions through growth capital, recapitalizations and buyout transactions. LLR Partners is headquartered in Philadelphia (www.llrpartners.com).

In June 2018, LLR Partners held a final closing of its latest fund, LLR Equity Partners V LP, at $1.2 billion. The firm’s earlier fund, LLR Equity Partners IV LP, closed at $950 million in March 2014.

Berkery Noyes (www.berkerynoyes.com) was the financial advisor to Edlio on this transaction.

 

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 17, 2018

J.W. Childs Adds Again to Outward Hound

by

Outward Hound, a portfolio company of J.W. Childs Associates, has acquired Planet Dog, a provider of dog toys.

Planet Dog’s products include Orbee-Tuff durable toys, leashes, collars, travel accessories, plush toys and treats. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Westbrook, ME (www.planetdog.com).”We are excited to transition the Planet Dog brand and our socially responsible mission to the Outward Hound team. They have the innovation, experience and financial resources to take our brand and mission of community, environment and people to the next level. We look forward to seeing their team get dogs wagging their tails around the world using our products,” said Alex Fisher, Founder & Chief Creative Officer.

Outward Hound is a designer and distributor of pet toys and other pet accessories such as travel gear, games and life jackets. The company’s products are sold under the Outward Hound, Petstages, Dublin Dog, Bionic, Wholesome Pride, K9 TUFF, and Nina Ottosson brands. Outward Hound is headquartered near Denver in Centennial, CO (www.outwardhound.com).

This is the third acquisition for Outward Hound since being acquired by J.W. Childs in December 2017 from The Riverside Company. In August 2018, Outward Hound acquired Charming Pet, a dog toy manufacturer; and in July 2018, Outward Hound acquired Wholesome Pride, a maker of natural ingredient pet treats. Chesterfield, MO-based Wholesome Pride’s products are made from sweet potatoes, pumpkins, bananas, blueberries, peanut butter, and honey and include chews, mini-bites, strips, fries, and biscuits.

J.W. Childs invests in middle market companies based in North America. Sectors of interest include consumer products, specialty retail and healthcare. The firm was founded in 1995 and is based in the Boston suburb of Waltham, MA (www.jwchilds.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 17, 2018

Bertram Adds FDA Agents to Registrar

by

Registrar, a portfolio company of Bertram Capital since June 2018, has acquired FDA Agents. This is the first add-on acquisition completed by Registrar under Bertram ownership.

FDA Agents services are used to help US and internationally-based businesses comply with US FDA regulations. The company focuses primarily on registration and US Agent services for the food, beverage, medical device, and pharmaceutical sectors and has more than 1,000 customers worldwide. FDA registration is required for all facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or store food, beverages, or dietary supplements that may be consumed in the United States by humans or animals. Companies located outside the United States must designate a US Agent for FDA communications. FDA Agents was founded in 2003 and is headquartered northwest of San Antonio in Tarpley, TX (www.fdaagents.com).

“With ever increasing regulations, it was the right time for FDA Agents to partner with a larger organization that could offer our customers a fuller breadth of solutions,” said John Balistreri, Managing Director of FDA Agents.  “Registrar greatly expands the capabilities of FDA Agents and I am confident that our valued clients will benefit from the variety of compliance services Registrar offers and the access to their international offices.”

Similar to FDA Agents, Registrar was founded in 2003 to help businesses comply with US FDA regulations. Registrar offers FDA compliance assistance for the food and beverage, medical device, drugs, cosmetics, electronics, and tobacco industries. Since its founding, the company has provided its services to more than 30,000 companies in 160 countries. In addition to its headquarters in Hampton, VA, the company has seventeen international offices (www.registrarcorp.com).

“Our goal is to expand Registrar’s reach across the FDA-regulated market,” said David Lennarz, Registrar’s President of Business Development and Operations. “We are excited to partner with all of FDA Agents’ customers and support their ongoing regulatory compliance needs by leveraging Registrar’s 100-plus regulatory advisors and specialists, offices in 17 countries, and unique SaaS technology capabilities.”

Bertram and Registrar continue to actively target add-on acquisitions of FDA regulatory compliance firms that can expand Registrar’s client base and range of services. “Registrar offers a specialized suite of FDA compliance solutions beyond what can be found in the market,” said Tom Beerle, Principal at Bertram Capital. “With the acquisition of FDA Agents, Registrar continues to expand its position as a leading provider of FDA compliance solutions, and moving forward we will continue to pursue additional, strategic add-on investment opportunities.”

Bertram invests in middle-market business services, consumer, industrial and manufacturing companies that have revenues from $25 million to $250 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $30 million. The firm is headquartered south of San Francisco in San Mateo, CA (www.bertramcapital.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 17, 2018