Benford Capital Partners has acquired Warehouse-Lighting.com, a Wisconsin-based distributor of LED lighting products.
Warehouse-Lighting.com (WHL) is a business-to-business distributor and marketer of LED lighting fixtures and related products used by business owners, contractors, architects, manufacturers, real estate developers, distributors, installers, facilities managers, and electricians in the industrial, commercial, municipal, and residential end-markets.WHL was included on the Inc. 5,000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies in 2016 and 2017. The company was founded in 2008 by President Jamie Abraham and is based near Milwaukee in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Mr. Abraham will continue in his current role as president and as an investor in WHL post-closing.
In addition to Mr. Abraham, Benford Capital is partnering on this transaction with Will Daly, the former co-president, COO and CFO of Barcodes, a provider of barcode and RFID products and services, which he co-led for 10 years from 2006 to 2016. Barcodes is a former portfolio company of Cortec and a current portfolio company of Odyssey Investment Partners. Mr. Daly is also the founding partner of Flanner Hall Partners, a Chicago-based private equity and real estate investor.
“I’m very pleased to once again partner with the Benford Capital team on the WHL opportunity, and I’m very excited to work with Jamie Abraham and the WHL team to build upon the strong foundation that’s already in place,” said Mr. Daly. “The combination of the people involved and my familiarity with the business model has me confident in the path ahead.”
“When I started to explore the options for my business, I realized that I wanted a partner that could help grow my business,” said Mr. Abraham. “Will Daly and Benford Capital have an excellent track record of growing businesses similar to Warehouse-Lighting, and I know that they will be of tremendous help taking the company to the next level.”
“WHL is Benford Capitals fifth B2B e-commerce acquisition and another example of our continued focus on partnering with great people in the acquisition of high-quality businesses with strong long-term growth potential,” said Edward Benford, managing director of Benford Capital. “We look forward to building on the foundation and supporting Jamie in WHL’s next chapter of success.”
Benford Capital invests in lower middle-market companies that have revenues of at least $3 million and EBITDA of at least $1 million. Sectors of interest include niche manufacturers, unique service companies, and specialty distributors. With the buy of WHL, Benford now has ten portfolio companies. The firm was founded in 2004 by Mr. Benford and is based in Chicago.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | November 20, 2019