Archives for January 16, 2019

Rockwood Builds Ibis Tek

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Ibis Tek, a portfolio company of Rockwood Equity Partners since February 2017, has acquired Standard Bent Glass, a supplier of custom fabricated glass products, including transparent armor.

Standard Bent Glass (SBG) is a manufacturer and distributor of flat and curved laminated glass, curved tempered glass, compound curved glass, decorative laminated glass, and bullet resistant glazing. The company also offers laminated glass and glass-clad polycarbonates for use as transparent armor across numerous military vehicle platforms.

SBG was founded in 1936 and is headquartered north of Pittsburgh in East Butler, PA (www.standardbent.com).

Ibis Tek is a manufacturer of ballistic glass, advanced lighting and accessories, specialty vehicles and products serving the defense, law enforcement, government agency and municipal sectors. The company is headquartered north of Pittsburgh in Butler, PA (www.ibistek.com).

According to Rockwood Equity, the combination of SBG and Ibis Tek creates the largest supplier of transparent armor to the US Department of Defense. The combined company will be renamed in the coming months.

Mike Hartley, who served as CEO of SBG, will continue to serve the combined company as a senior advisor. “Fifteen years ago, our two neighboring companies first worked together to offer transparent armor products in support of our military,” said Mr. Hartley. “It is exciting to see that relationship come full circle, now as a combined enterprise that will provide one-stop-shop capabilities with flat and curved transparent armor, metal fabrication, certified welding, paint and coating, electrical assembly and system integration for vehicle upfitting.”

“SBG is a perfect, ‘hand in glove’ strategic fit with Ibis Tek,” said Ibis Tek CEO Vince Nardy. “SBG’s capability to fabricate specialty glass, together with Ibis Tek’s expertise in commercial vehicles, now provide significant opportunities to take on new programs that leverage our combined expertise in providing armored solutions to the military, as well as complementary vehicle capabilities.”

Rockwood Equity Partners invests in niche manufacturing, value-added distribution, and industrial services companies with revenues of $10 million to $75 million and EBITDA of $2 million to $7 million that are located in the US or Canada. Rockwood was founded in 1999 and has offices in Cleveland, Denver and New York (www.rockwoodequity.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 16, 2019

Vestar Doubles Roland Foods

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Roland Foods, a portfolio company of Vestar Capital Partners since August 2013, has acquired Albert Uster Imports (AUI).

AUI is an importer of specialty pastry, bakery, and confectionary products used by professional chefs and bakers at hotels, restaurants, casinos, cruise lines, and airlines. The company has more than 1,400 SKUs and sources its products from more than 150 global suppliers, including exclusive distribution arrangements with such brands as Felchlin, HUG, Ponthier, Laderach, and PCB Creation.

AUI, led by CEO Philipp Braun, was founded in 1968 and is based near Washington, DC in Gaithersburg, MD (www.auifinefoods.com).

“AUI and Roland Foods have much in common as global leaders in the imported specialty foods niche,” said Mr. Braun. “However, there is little product overlap and each company brings complementary products and services to the combination.”

Roland Foods is an importer and supplier of specialty foods to foodservice distributors, specialty retailers and restaurants. The company has more than 1,500 SKUs and its product offering includes condiments and spices; vegetables; cooking wines; escargot; fruit; grains and noodles; oils and sauces; mushrooms and truffles; and a variety of other products. Roland was founded in 1934 by Bruno and Suzanne Scheidt and is based in New York with a warehouse facility south of Newark in Dayton, NJ (www.rolandfood.com).

“The acquisition of AUI establishes Roland Foods as a leading platform within the specialty foods landscape,” said James Wagner, CEO of Roland Foods. “This acquisition doubles Roland Foods’ portfolio of unique, hard-to-source specialty products, increases our presence in the growing pastry and confections product lines, and offers us entry into the frozen and refrigerated categories.”

Vestar specializes in management buyouts and growth capital investments. The firm targets equity investments from $50 million to $150 million in middle-market companies with enterprise values ranging from $250 million to $1 billion. Sectors of interest include consumer; diversified industries; healthcare; and financial services.  Vestar was founded in 1988 and has offices in New York, Boston, and Denver (www.vestarcapital.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 16, 2019

Warren Closes Second Fund

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Warren Equity Partners has closed its second fund at its $310 million hard cap. The new fund is composed of Warren Equity Partners Fund II LP and Warren Equity Partners Fund II-A LP (together WEP II).

WEP II, which had an original target of $225 million, held its first close in March 2018 and concluded marketing to new investors in September 2018. The final close was held in December 2018. WEP II investors include both new and returning investors such as university endowments, pension funds, fund of funds, private foundations and family offices.

Warren Equity invests from $5 million to $40 million in North American-based companies that have from $3 million to $15 million of EBITDA and total enterprise value of less than $150 million. Sectors of interest include industrial, infrastructure, and business services. The firm was founded in mid-2015 by Steven Wacaster, Scott Bruckmann, and Henrik Dahlback and is based in Jacksonville Beach, FL (www.warrenequity.com).

“We are grateful for the strong support we received from our investor base during the raise of WEP II,” said Mr. Wacaster. “Our experienced team and ability to execute on a focused investment strategy attracted a diverse group of high-quality investors. We look forward to continuing our partnerships with management teams to build great companies in WEP II.”

Warren Equity believes its targeted sectors will continue to perform well over the next decade and beyond due to years of underinvestment in infrastructure; an aging asset base in the utility and building environment; continued growth in the utilization of core assets (utility distribution systems, airports, highways, and ports); growing investments in energy/electrical production and transportation; and increasing technology utilization and data management.

“We have built a strong reputation for being a value-added partner to management teams of lower middle market companies,” said Mr. Bruckmann. “WEP II will continue to invest in businesses where we have an inherent understanding of the underlying markets served and can leverage our experience and resources to drive value for our investors and portfolio companies.”

Warren Equity targets regional companies in fragmented end markets that have competitive differentiation and can scale through a combination of organic growth and add-on acquisitions. In addition, the firm utilizes an in-house operational team to drive improvements and prepare companies for growth.

“At Warren Equity, we leverage our network of industry advisors to identify attractive targets and utilize our in-house operations team to establish strategic goals and performance metrics at our portfolio companies,” said Mr. Dahlback.

So far, Warren Equity has completed four platform investments for WEP II that account for over one-third of the fund’s committed capital: Magneto & Diesel Injector Service (DBA M&D Distributors), a Humble, TX-based aftermarket distributor of parts and components for maintaining and repairing diesel-powered engines (January 2019); Meridian Waste, a Greensboro, GA-based non-hazardous provider of solid waste collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services (April 2018); Superior Industrial Maintenance Company (SIMCO), a Concord, NC-based provider of corrosion protection services (May 2018); and StormTrap, a Romeoville, IL-based designer and engineer of stormwater management systems (December 2018).

Since founding in mid-2018, Warren Equity has completed a total of 19 transactions including 8 platform companies.

Eaton Partners, a subsidiary of Stifel Financial (NYSE: SF), was the placement agent for WEP II. “With average purchase price multiples in buyout pushing record levels, Warren Equity’s disciplined investment strategy with a focus on organic growth and operational value creation was in high demand from institutional investors,” said Peter Martenson, a partner at Eaton. “It has been our pleasure to partner with the Warren team on a successful fundraise.” Over the past two years, Eaton has successfully closed 26 funds, totaling $22 billion in capital commitments (www.eaton-partners.com).

Kirkland & Ellis (www.kirkland.com) provided legal services to Warren Equity on this fundraise.

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 16, 2019

Gemspring Expands Therma

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Therma Holdings, a portfolio company of Gemspring Capital since June 2017, has acquired Yearout Mechanical, a provider of mechanical, fabrication and maintenance services.

Yearout Mechanical provides engineering, installation and maintenance for HVAC, plumbing and piping systems for commercial, institutional and light industrial facilities. In addition to its services, the company also has in-house fabrication and design-build capabilities.

Yearout Mechanical, founded in 1964 by Robert and Joan Yearout, is led today by CEO Kevin Yearout who will continue to lead the company under Therma ownership. Yearout Mechanical is headquartered in Albuquerque, NM (www.yearout.com).

Therma specializes in complex HVAC, high purity process piping, and process controls for cleanrooms, laboratories and high-tech manufacturing facilities. Customers of Therma include general contractors, construction managers and owners in the technology, biopharmaceutical, data center and semiconductor industries. The company, which performed the original mechanical work for some of the founding clean rooms and semiconductor fabrication facilities in Silicon Valley, was founded in 1967 and is led by CEO Joe Parisi. Therma is headquartered in San Jose, CA (www.therma.com).

“Yearout Mechanical is an established company with a great reputation with customers and general contractors in the New Mexico market and is an excellent fit with Therma’s growth strategy,” said Mr. Parisi.

“Therma is one of the largest design-build mechanical service providers in the country and a leading provider of mission-critical services in the Bay Area,” said Brooks Corcoran, Director, M&A and Strategy at Therma. “The acquisition of Yearout Mechanical expands our geographic footprint in an attractive and growing market.”

Gemspring invests in companies that have revenues from $25 million to $250 million. Sectors of interest include business and industrial services; distribution and logistics; healthcare services; specialty manufacturing; and media, technology and software. The firm, which held a final closing of its debut fund in November 2016 with $350 million of capital commitments, is based in Westport, CT (www.gemspring.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 16, 2019