Archives for March 25, 2019

MPE Adds Cantrell to Bettcher

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Bettcher Industries, a manufacturer of food processing equipment and a portfolio company of MPE Partners, has acquired Cantrell.

Cantrell is a manufacturer of equipment and systems used in the poultry processing industry. The company’s products include evisceration and picking equipment, second processing equipment, wing segmenters, vacuum systems, and spare parts.

Cantrell sells its products to poultry processors in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Cantrell was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Gainesville, GA (www.cantrell.com).

Dane Woods and Tony Rice, who acquired Cantrell in 2008, will remain in their roles with Cantrell as co-general managers. The operations of Cantrell will be combined with Gainesville, GA-based Gainco, a division of Bettcher Industries that also manufactures equipment used in the poultry processing industry.

MPE acquired Bettcher in October 2017 in partnership with the company’s employee stock ownership plan (formed in October 2014) which retained a significant minority ownership stake in the company.

“This acquisition is an excellent example of the value MPE’s partnership with Bettcher’s ESOP has created, providing the capital required to make growth investments and the transaction expertise required to complete acquisitions,” said Karen Tuleta, a partner at MPE. “We are very excited to partner with Bettcher’s employee owners on this investment.”

Bettcher Industries is a developer and manufacturer of cutting tools used in food processing operations and industrial applications. The company manufactured the first mechanically powered hand-held meat trimmer in 1954 and since then has introduced successive design generations of trimmers which are sold under the Whizard and Bettcher Quantum brand names and are used in meat processing plants in the United States and more than 50 other countries.

Bettcher also manufactures AirShirz pneumatic scissors, which are designed to reduce the pain and fatigue associated with using manual scissors in repetitive cutting activities. AirShirz scissors are used in meat and poultry processing plants and in non-food applications such as cutting engineered fabrics, rubber, and wire mesh. Bettcher was founded in 1944 and is headquartered west of Cleveland in Birmingham, OH (www.bettcher.com) (www.gainco.com).

“We saw a fantastic fit between Bettcher, Gainco, and Cantrell, and believe their shared capabilities and synergy opportunities will accelerate the growth of the combined company,” said Matt Yohe, a partner at MPE.

MPE invests in lower middle market companies that are valued from $25 million to $150 million and have EBITDAs between $5 million and $20 million. Sectors of interest include high-value manufacturing and industrial services. The firm has offices in Cleveland and Boston (www.mpepartners.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | March 25, 2019

Kinderhook Buys SCA Competitor

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SCA Performance, a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries, has acquired Rocky Mountain Truckworks. Kinderhook acquired SCA Performance, an OEM authorized specialty vehicle manufacturer, in April 2018 in partnership with the founding McSweeney family.

SCA is a provider of vehicle upgrades for specialty light-duty trucks. The company’s upgrades include wheels, tires, bumpers, lighting, suspensions, fenders, badging, side steps, running boards, and exhaust systems. SCA receives new vehicles directly from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Jeep, and Dodge, adds its specialty packages and then sells the up-fitted vehicles to new truck dealers with a full OEM warranty. Since its founding in 1979, SCA Performance has produced over 120,000 custom vehicles. The company is headquartered northeast of Birmingham in Trussville, AL (www.scaperformance.com).

Rocky Mountain Truckworks (RMT) is an OEM authorized specialty vehicle manufacturer for light-duty trucks and is a direct competitor of SCA as an OEM authorized specialty vehicle manufacturer for GM and RAM light-duty trucks. RMT is headquartered in Fort Collins, CO (www.rockymountaintruckworks.com).

The shareholders of RMT will roll a portion of their sale proceeds into an equity stake in SCA, and former RMT vice president Preston Hess will remain involved in operations going forward as SCA’s General Manager.

“RMT is the perfect acquisition to expand our distribution footprint to the Western United States,” said SCA CEO, Michael McSweeney. “We are now the only specialty vehicle manufacturer with a nationwide footprint.”

“Michael and his team have done a tremendous job growing SCA since we acquired the business last year,” said Tom Tuttle, managing director of Kinderhook. “We are excited about SCA partnering with another leading specialty vehicle manufacturer and expanding its distribution and customer footprint to the Western United States.”

Kinderhook makes control investments in companies with transaction values of $25 million to $150 million in which the firm can achieve financial, operational and growth improvements. The firm makes investments in non-core divisions of public companies, management buyouts of entrepreneurial-owned businesses, troubled situations, and existing small capitalization companies lacking institutional support. Sectors of interest include healthcare services, environmental/business services, and automotive/light manufacturing. Kinderhook was founded in 2003 and is based in New York (www.kinderhook.com).

The buy of RMT represents Kinderhook’s 71st automotive-related transaction.

Financing for the transaction was provided by Regions Bank (www.regions.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | March 25, 2019

Fort Point Closes Another WolfePak Add-On

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WolfePak Software, a portfolio company of Fort Point Capital, has acquired software company LandPro.

LandPro is used by small to mid-size independent oil and gas companies to manage contracts, leases, and well and mineral rights. The company’s flagship products include Visual LandPro 2000, LandPro Express, Coal Mining Revenue Distribution program, and Map Suite GIS LandPro Edition. LandPro was founded in 1990 by CEO Luigi Ballatori and is headquartered north of Houston in Spring, TX (www.landpro.com).

All LandPro employees have joined WolfePak and LandPro’s former CEO, Luigi Ballatori, continues to stay involved in the business as a part-time consultant.

WolfePak Software was founded in 1986 to provide user-friendly accounting software for companies active in the oil and gas industry.  The company’s financial, accounting and regulatory compliance software products are used by oil and gas well operators, first purchasers, investors, and service companies located in 43 states and nine countries. In addition to its core software and add-on modules, WolfePak provides technical support, systems conversions, training and hosting services. WolfePak is headquartered in Abilene, TX (www.wolfepak.com).

“We are excited to partner with LandPro to continue expanding the functionality of WolfePak’s best-in-class software offerings,” said Christina Pai, a partner at Fort Point. “We look forward to working closely with LandPro’s employees and customers to provide the exceptional land management experience they have come to expect.”

Fort Point acquired WolfePak Software in June 2016. This add-on acquisition merges WolfePak’s suite of ERP software and LandPro’s land management software products to create an integrated and complete product offering. “The combination of WolfePak and LandPro continues to expand WolfePak’s exceptional oil and gas ERP software suite with the addition of a highly-regarded partner in the land management space,” said Brent Rhymes, CEO of WolfePak. “LandPro allows WolfePak to offer its customer base a more complete and integrated land management solutions offering, together with WolfePak’s core ERP software.”

The buy of LandPro is WolfePak’s second add-on in the past eight months. In July 2018, WolfePak acquired Conquest RT, a SaaS provider of real-time tracking, dispatching, and reporting capabilities to crude oil haulers and oil and gas related water transportation companies (www.conquestrt.com).

Fort Point invests from $10 million to $30 million of equity in service-oriented, lower middle-market companies that have enterprise valuations of $20 million to $75 million. Sectors of interest include business services, healthcare services, information & software, and transportation & logistics. Fort Point was founded in 2010 and is based in Boston (www.fortpointcapital.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | March 25, 2019

AUA Announces Three Promotions

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AUA Private Equity Partners has promoted Kyce Chihi to managing director, and Jack Lin and Ari David to vice president.

“We are proud to announce the promotion of an exceptional group of professionals that have contributed to our firm’s success over the past years,” said Andy Unanue, managing partner of AUA Private Equity. “These professionals have made significant contributions to our portfolio companies, to our partners, and to the foundation and reputation of AUA Private Equity. They have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to our values and our partnership-first approach to investing.”

AUA Private Equity makes equity investments of $20 million to $75 million in companies that generate at least $5 million of EBITDA.  Sectors of interest include consumer, media and business services with a focus on family-owned businesses and companies benefiting from the growth of the US Hispanic population.

Mr. Chihi is a founding member of AUA and has been involved in several investments on behalf of the firm. He currently serves on the boards of Tijuana Flats Restaurants, a fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurant chain (acquired in July 2015); Raymundos Food Group, a manufacturer of branded and private-label refrigerated desserts (acquired in March 2015); and Indulge Desserts, a manufacturer of premium gourmet desserts (acquired in June 2016). Prior to joining AUA, Mr. Chihi worked at a family office and earlier was an analyst in Deutsche Bank’s leveraged finance group in New York. He has a BS in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Lin has been with AUA since 2012 and currently serves on the board of Water Lilies, a manufacturer of frozen Asian appetizers and entrees (acquired December 2017). Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Lin worked at an Australian corporate law firm and a private-equity focused management consulting firm. Earlier he was a summer analyst at UBS. Mr. Lin received his BCom in Finance from the University of Sydney and his J.D. from Sydney Law School/Cornell Law School.

Mr. David joined AUA as an MBA intern in 2013 and joined the firm full time in 2015 after completing business school. Earlier in his career, he was an associate with J.P. Morgan Asset Management in its mid-corporate and endowments & foundations group. Mr. David has a BA in Economics from Tufts University and received his MBA from Columbia Business School.

AUA Private Equity Partners was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in New York (www.auaequity.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | March 25, 2019