BlackBern Partners has acquired Zentech Manufacturing in partnership with the company’s management team and incoming CEO Steve Pudles.
Zentech is an electronics contract manufacturer specializing in the design and manufacture of medium-volume/high mix electronic and RF circuit boards and assemblies (RF circuit boards are printed circuit boards that operate between 100MHz and 2GHz). In addition to its printed circuit boards capabilities, the company also builds cable assemblies, wire harnesses, cables and mechanical boxes.
Zentech’s customers are active in the defense and aerospace, medical, communications, and industrial controls sectors. The company maintains several important industry certifications including ISO 9001:2015, ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations from the US State Department), AS9100 (aerospace) and ISO 13485 (medical). Zentech is headquartered in Baltimore, MD (42,000 sq. ft.) and has an additional facility in Fredericksburg, VA (25,000 sq. ft.) (www.zentech.com).
Mr. Pudles, the new CEO of Zentech, has a thirty-year track record in the electronics manufacturing services sector and is a twenty-year member and past chairman of the Association Connecting Electronics Industries (a trade association formerly called the Institute for Printed Circuits (IPC)).
In addition to being active on several boards of directors, from 2011 to 2014 Mr. Pudles was the CEO of Lawrenceville, GA-based Spectral Response, a provider of electronic manufacturing services specializing in the contract manufacturing of circuit boards and electrical components used in commercial and industrial applications. Spectral Response was acquired by Hunter Technology, a Milpitas, CA-based provider of electronic manufacturing services, in 2014. Earlier in his career, he was the CEO of API Technologies from 2008 to 2011 and CEO of Nu Visions Manufacturing from 2000 to 2008.
Matt Turpin, the outgoing CEO and President of Zentech, will remain active with the company as an advisor and investor. All other members of the senior management team will remain with Zentech post-acquisition.
“Matt has built Zentech into an outstanding supplier within the aerospace, defense, medical and high-reliability markets,” said Mr. Pudles. “I have always enjoyed meeting with Matt at IPC events and look forward to his counsel as I begin my CEO tenure at Zentech. I am excited to work with this team to sustain and extend Zentech’s delivery of uncompromising quality product.”
“The loyalty of Zentech’s impressive customer list affirms this very talented leadership team and the differentiated model they employ. We look forward to partnering with Steve to invest in furthering this model in the current facilities and through strategic acquisitions,” said Jonathan Bernstein, a partner at BlackBern.
BlackBern Partners invests in mature operating companies in the lower middle market. The firm was founded in 2010 by Ian Black and Jonathan Bernstein and is based in New York (www.blackbernpartners.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | May 14, 2019
