Archives for January 24, 2019

Wind Point Buys Clock Spring and NRI

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Wind Point Partners has entered into agreements to acquire and merge Clock Spring Company, a portfolio company of Spindrift Equities, and Neptune Research, a portfolio company of Palm Beach Capital.

Clock Spring and Neptune Research (NRI) are providers of infrastructure repair and rehabilitation products. When the transactions are completed, the combined company will be named ClockSpring|NRI.

Houston, TX-based Clock Spring and Riviera Beach, FL-based NRI are both manufacturers of composite materials, insertion valves, and gaskets that are used to maintain, rehabilitate, and construct pipelines, natural gas distribution lines, industrial pipe works, electrical grids, and civil structures.

The companies’ pipe repair systems and inline insertion valves are in use in more than 75 countries and include the brands Clock Spring, Syntho-Glass XT, Scar-Guard, Contour, DiamondWrap, and AVT EZ Valve (www.cs-nri.com) (www.clockspring.com) and (www.neptuneresearch.com).

“We spent significant time canvassing the critical infrastructure repair industry for a quality business to establish a platform investment,” said Alex Washington, a managing director at Wind Point. “With Clock Spring and NRI, we happened to find two quality and complementary organizations that are a strong fit with our strategy. We are excited for the opportunity to partner with the two companies and look forward to supporting them via new products and capabilities, as well as through add-on acquisitions.”

Palm Beach Capital acquired NRI in May 2017 and will not hold an equity position in the newly formed ClockSpring|NRI, while former Clock Spring lead sponsor, Spindrift Equities, will continue as an investor in the new company. Clock Spring CEO Matthew Boucher will lead the combined company, while Christopher Lazzara, NRI’s long-time CEO will retain an equity position and join the new company’s board of directors.

Antares, Hartford Investment Management Company, Solar Capital, Northwestern Mutual Capital, and Nuveen Private Markets have committed debt financing to support this transaction.

Wind Point invests from $50 million to $100 million in companies with EBITDAs of at least $10 million. Industries of interest include business services, consumer products and industrial products. In June 2017, Wind Point held a final closing of its eighth fund, Wind Point Partners VIII LP, with $985 million of capital commitments. The fund exceeded its initial hard cap of $750 million and marks the largest fund closing in Wind Point’s history. The firm was founded in 1984 and is based in Chicago (www.wppartners.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 24, 2019

Pritzker Acquires KabaFusion

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Pritzker Private Capital has acquired KabaFusion, a provider of acute and specialty home infusion services.

KabaFusion operates seven fully accredited specialty pharmacies located in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas and serves patients with a range of acute and chronic conditions in more than 40 states, specializing in intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and other infusion therapies. KabaFusion was founded by Dr. Sohail Masood and is headquartered in Cerritos, CA (www.KabaFusion.com).

Pritzker Private Capital is investing alongside KabaFusion’s pharmacist-led management team, who will continue to lead the business. “We are committed to providing our patients with the highest quality of specialty home infusion treatments and are thrilled to partner with Pritzker Private Capital,” said Dr. Masood, KabaFusion’s CEO. “We selected Pritzker Private Capital because of their deep experience in healthcare services and differentiated long-term approach to building world-class businesses.”

“KabaFusion is a great example of a clinician-led company that puts patient care first,” said Tony Pritzker, Chairman and CEO of Pritzker Private Capital. “KabaFusion’s exceptional leadership team has decades of experience serving patients. Their commitment to excellence perfectly aligns with our core values.”

PPC Partners acquires North America-based middle-market companies that have enterprise values between $100 million and $750 million and EBITDA in excess of $15 million. Sectors of interest include manufactured products, services and healthcare.

“KabaFusion is a leader in IVIG and home infusion due to its patient-focused service model and clinical expertise,” said Michael Dal Bello, an investment partner at Pritzker Private Capital. “We are delighted to partner with Dr. Masood and the KabaFusion management team and look forward to supporting the company’s continued growth.”

PPC Partners is led by Tony Pritzker and the former investment and operating professionals of Pritzker Group Private Capital. In July 2018, PPC Partners held a final closing of PPC Fund II LP at its hard cap of $1.8 billion. PPC Partners has offices in Chicago and Los Angeles (www.PPCPartners.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 24, 2019

EQT Acquires Osmose from Kohlberg

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Private equity firm EQT has acquired Osmose Utilities Services from Kohlberg & Company which acquired the company in August 2015.

Osmose is a provider of inspection, maintenance and restoration services for utility and telecom infrastructure. The company’s services include wood pole inspection, treatment and restoration; steel structure inspection and rehabilitation; and structural engineering services. Osmose’s top 50 customers have on average been with the company for more than 40 years.

Osmose is headquartered near Atlanta in Peachtree City, GA and employs more than 3,200 people, including more than 2,600 field employees, across the country. The company was founded in 1934 and is led by CEO Ron Childress (www.osmose.com).

“Osmose is unique among utility services businesses due to its strong infrastructure characteristics and fits perfectly within EQT’s approach of targeting high-quality, stable businesses with transformation potential,” said Erwin Thompson, a partner at EQT. “We have been impressed with the company’s historical growth trajectory and ongoing transformation fueled by a data-based sales strategy.”

EQT invests in medium-sized companies operating in a range of industries in Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, China and the US. Sectors of interest include infrastructure; industrials; consumer goods & retail; services; technology, media and telecom; energy; environment; and healthcare. The firm was founded in 1994 in Sweden and has offices in 14 countries across Europe, Asia and North America (www.eqtpartners.com).

“We have enjoyed building a relationship with EQT throughout this process and are confident this partnership will help Osmose achieve continued success in the future,” said Mr. Childress. “We are excited to leverage EQT’s extensive resources as we continue investing in new capabilities and expanding into new markets to accelerate growth. We appreciate the investment and partnership Kohlberg offered throughout their ownership, which positioned us well for long-term success.”

Kohlberg & Company invests in companies in the industrial manufacturing; consumer products; business services; healthcare services; and financial services sectors. The firm concentrates on companies with EBITDAs between $20 million and $100 million where it can invest between $50 million and $200 million of equity. In March 2018, Blackstone acquired a minority equity interest in the firm. Kohlberg & Company was founded in 1987 and is based north of New York City in Mt. Kisco, NY (www.kohlberg.com).

“We have enjoyed our partnership with Ron Childress and the Osmose team, who have uniquely positioned the company as a differentiated market leader with significant growth capabilities and expansion opportunities in the utilities services market,” said Benjamin Mao, a partner at Kohlberg. “We look forward to the continued success of Osmose in partnership with EQT.”

Goldman Sachs & Co. and Harris Williams were the financial advisors to Osmose.

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 24, 2019

Huron Adds Operating Pros

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Huron Capital has added former Herman Miller CEO Brian Walker to the firm as an operations-oriented partner in charge of leadership at the portfolio company level.

The addition of Mr. Walker, whose new title is Partner – Strategic Leadership, is part of a targeted effort to deepen the firm’s investment management expertise and strategic direction for its portfolio companies. The firm has also hired former Smith & Nephew SVP Sherry Mennenga as Partner – Human Capital, and a third new position with the title of Partner – Performance Enhancement is targeted to be filled by the end of January.

Mr. Walker will be active in driving the operating and financial performance of Huron’s portfolio companies by providing leadership, mentoring, business insights, and strategic direction. Prior to joining Huron, Mr. Walker served as president and CEO of Zeeland, MI-based Herman Miller, a maker of office furniture, equipment and home furnishings, from 2004 until his retirement in 2018. He is also a director of Cooper Tire & Rubber and Briggs & Stratton.

“I am eager to begin working with the talented professionals at Huron Capital,” said Mr. Walker. “I have enjoyed a lengthy career primarily at one large company, and now I can apply that experience to the wide range of fascinating and diverse companies held by Huron Capital as we strive to deliver value for all of our stakeholders.”

“Brian Walker is recognized as an outstanding leader who led the transformation of Herman Miller globally into a premium lifestyle brand, scaled the business operationally and oversaw the integration of multiple acquisitions. We are excited about the strategic leadership expertise that he brings to our firm,” said Peter Mogk, a senior partner at Huron. “While we have been an operationally-focused firm for several years, we believe Brian’s knowledge and guidance will make a significant impact on our portfolio.”

Ms. Mennenga, as Huron’s new Partner – Human Capital, will lead and provide oversight of all activities related to human capital management, organizational development and change management initiatives at both the firm and its 19 portfolio companies.

Since 2012, Ms. Mennenga has been the owner of OE Consulting Associates, a Nashville-based management consulting company specializing in organizational effectiveness and human capital services. Earlier in her career, from 2008 to 2012, she was SVP of Human Resources and Internal Communications for Smith & Nephew, a $4 billion medical technology company.

“The talent and management expertise of our team is our most important resource, and Sherry brings a tremendous amount of experience that we expect will help us continue to attract, retain and develop strong leadership throughout our portfolio,” said Mike Beauregard, a senior partner at Huron.

Huron Capital makes control and non-control investments in companies with revenues of $20 million to $200 million and EBITDAs of $5 million or more. Sectors of interest include business services, consumer goods & services, and specialty industrials. Founded in 1999, the Detroit-based firm has raised over $1.8 billion in capital through six private equity funds and invested in over 150 companies (www.huroncapital.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 24, 2019