LongueVue Capital has acquired Soho Studio Corp. and TileBar (together Soho) in partnership with the companies’ founder and CEO Eli Mechlovitz.
Soho is a provider of mosaic, tile, and other specialty interior products to residential and commercial contractors, architects, design firms, developers, and individual consumers. The company’s products are sold through a range of channels including its New York City showroom, approximately 1,200 wholesale stores, and its TileBar.com e-commerce platform.
Soho has 150 full-time employees and operates out of its 24,000 square foot headquarters in New York, an 8,000 square foot TileBar showroom in New York’s Flatiron District, and a 270,000 square foot distribution facility in New Jersey (www.sohostudiocorp.com) (www.tilebar.com).
“Soho is a proven market disruptor. From its proprietary, on-trend designs to its omnichannel approach, Soho is building more than just a specialty flooring and wall coverings business; they’re building a lifestyle brand,” said Ryan Nagim, a partner at LongueVue. “Leveraging decades of experience and capitalizing on shifts in consumer and builder preferences for ceramic tile and stone, the Soho management team has created a unique value proposition around high-quality, differentiated, and competitively priced products sold through innovative channels and supported by superior customer service. We believe that with a committed partner, Soho can further expand its portfolio and reach to become a top-tier specialty interiors company.”
LongueVue makes equity and debt investments in lower middle-market companies that have over $3 million of EBITDA and up to $150 million of annual revenue. Sectors of interest include business services, transportation and logistics, healthcare, energy services, and niche manufacturing. LongueVue closed LongueVue Capital Partners III LP (LVC III) in March 2017 at its hard cap of $252 million. The firm was founded in 2001 and is based in New Orleans with an additional office in Park City, UT (www.lvcpartners.com).
“We are excited to welcome Soho as the sixth platform investment for our latest fund, LVC III. We love partnering with entrepreneur-owned businesses that have demonstrated both strong growth and exceptional potential,” said Rick Rees, a co-founder and managing partner of LongueVue. “We share management’s vision for market disruption and leadership and look forward to partnering with Eli and the entire Soho team to professionalize and scale the business as it enters its next phase of growth.”
“On behalf of the Soho family, we are thrilled to welcome our new partners, LongueVue Capital, especially given the firm’s proven track record of supporting and growing businesses at inflection points similar to that of Soho,” said Mr. Mechlovitz.
Cadence Bank provided senior debt financing in support of the transaction.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | June 25, 2019
