AFC Industries, a portfolio company of Incline Equity Partners, has acquired The Boulder Company. Incline acquired AFC Industries in March 2015 from Rockwood Equity Partners.
The Boulder Company is a distributor of more than 100,000 SKUs of industrial components including clamps, fasteners, hinges, valves, rivets, springs, abrasives, sealants, tools, cables and chains. Customers of the company include original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, and maintenance, repair, and operations companies throughout the Upper Midwest.
The Boulder Company, led by CEO John Bruntz, was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Des Moines with three additional facilities in Spencer, IA; Sioux City, SD; and Lincoln, NE (www.theboulderco.com).
AFC Industries distributes and provides vendor managed inventory programs for an array of standard and specialized fasteners and other industrial components including bolts, screws, nuts, rivets, fittings, springs, gaskets, hinges, keys, and latches. The company’s customers include original equipment manufacturers and assembly plants in the automotive, defense, fluid-handling, food equipment, lighting, medical and transportation sectors. In addition to providing inventory management and replenishment services, AFC’s service offerings include testing, quality assurance, assembly, kitting, packaging and private labeling. AFC was founded in 1987 and is based near Cincinnati in Fairfield, OH (www.afcind.com).
Incline Equity Partners invests in lower middle-market growth companies that have enterprise values of $25 million to $300 million. Sectors of interest include value-added distribution, specialized light manufacturing, and business services. Incline was formed in 2011 and is based in Pittsburgh (www.inclineequity.com).
According to a source familiar with this transaction, Twin Brook Capital Partners, the middle-market direct lending arm of Angelo Gordon, served as administrative agent on financing to support the buy of Boulder by AFC. Chicago-based Twin Brook focuses on loans to private equity-owned companies with EBITDA between $3 million and $50 million, with an emphasis on companies with $25 million of EBITDA and below. The firm targets senior financing opportunities up to $200 million, with hold sizes across the platform ranging from $25 million up to $150 million. Twin Brook’s product suite includes opportunistic investments in second lien, mezzanine, and equity co-investments (www.twincp.com).
BCC Advisers, a Des Moines-based investment banking firm, was the financial advisor to The Boulder Company on this transaction.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | July 31, 2019