Auxo Acquires Prestige Stamping
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Auxo Acquires Prestige Stamping

Auxo Investment Partners has acquired Prestige Stamping in partnership with the Rink family.

Prestige is a maker of high-volume, tight-tolerance washers and similar small stampings made from aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, low and high carbon steels as well as high strength, pre-tempered and stainless steels with a thickness range of .020″ through .375″. The company manufactures over a billion washers and metal stampings annually for more than 200 customers that are active in the automotive, infrastructure & construction, agricultural, electronics and home/office products sectors.

Prestige recently was accredited with IATF 16949, the new global industry standard for quality management systems published by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF). The company, led by CEO Chris Rink, was founded in 1967 and operates from a 100,000-square-foot production facility and headquarters located near Detroit in Warren, MI (www.prestigestamping.com).

Mr. Rink will continue as CEO of Prestige under Auxo ownership. “Starting from a stone garage in Detroit where we took our first order more than 50 years ago, our family has worked hard to build a customer- and employee-centric culture with a singular mission to deliver market-leading quality, speed and value to our customers,” said Mr. Rink. “We selected Auxo as a partner because of the values our organizations share – and we think Auxo’s hands-on investment approach will bolster our ability to maintain our vision and ensure a prosperous future for our company and for our long-standing employees.”

“We were immediately impressed with Prestige and by the tenacity with which the company pursues process improvement, quality and growth,” said Auxo Managing Partner Jack Kolodny. “It’s clear the company’s values are closely aligned with ours, and its success has been driven by the Rink family’s relentless pursuit of excellence and customer service. We’re excited to honor their legacy by bringing their industry-leading responsiveness, quality, and on-time delivery to other markets where those performance levels are critical for customers, all of which will take the business to the next level.”

In addition to its core markets, Mr. Kolodny believes that Prestige can expand into other markets including aviation and engine manufacturing, rail, aerospace and defense, heavy truck and other transportation sectors.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Prestige Stamping and the Rink family,” added Auxo Managing Partner Jeff Helminski. “This is exactly the kind of company we had in mind when we formed Auxo two years ago — and we look forward to being an active and additive partner in the continued growth and diversification of an already outstanding company.”

Auxo invests in North America-based companies that have from $1.5 million to $15 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include manufacturing, industrial, value-added distribution and business services. Typical investments for Auxo occur at corporate transition points, including owner-operators planning retirement, companies exploring family succession, and ownership/management teams seeking growth capital. The firm prefers majority-control investments but will consider select minority opportunities.

Auxo was founded in October 2016 and is led by its managing partners Jeff Helminski, Jack Kolodny and Fred Tedori. The firm, which is named after the ancient Greek goddess of growth, has offices in Grand Rapids, MI and Los Angeles, CA (www.auxopartners.com).

The buy of Prestige Stamping is Auxo’s fifth acquisition in 13 months and follows the September closing of the firm’s first investment fund, Auxo Growth Holdings I LLC.

Tree Line Capital Partners (www.treelinecp.com) and Mercantile Bank (www.mercbank.com) provided debt financing. Generational Equity (www.genequityco.com) was the financial advisor to Prestige Stamping.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 16, 2018

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