Registrar, a portfolio company of Bertram Capital since June 2018, has acquired K Squared International (DBA US Agent Services) and Registration and Licensing Systems (RLS).
Registrar was founded in 2003 and provides FDA compliance assistance to companies operating in the food and beverage, medical device, drugs, cosmetics, electronics, and tobacco industries. The company, led by CEO David Lennarz, employs more than 150 regulatory advisors and specialists including former FDA officials, scientists, and industry experts.
FDA registration is required for all facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or store food, beverages, or dietary supplements that may be consumed in the United States by humans or animals. Companies located outside the United States must designate a US agent for FDA communications. Since its founding, Registrar has provided its services to more than 30,000 companies in 160 countries. In addition to its headquarters in Hampton, VA, the company has eighteen international offices.
Like Registrar, both Ada, MI-based US Agent Services and Annapolis, MD-based RLS provide FDA registration, US agent services, and product listing services to more than 500 domestic and foreign FDA-regulated facilities.
The buys of US Agent Services and RLS are the second and third add-on acquisitions made by Registrar under Bertram ownership and follow the October 2018 buy of FDA Agents, a Tarpley, TX-based provider of registration and US agent services to more than 1,000 customers in the food, beverage, medical device, and pharmaceutical sectors.
“These two acquisitions, along with the acquisition of FDA Agents last year, support our goal of providing the most comprehensive suite of compliance solutions in the industry,” said Tom Beerle, a partner at Bertram and transaction lead for Registrar. “We continue to seek business owners in the industry who wish to become part of our compliance platform.”
“We partnered with Registrar because the company aligned exceptionally well with our targeted investment thesis around the Food Safety Modernization Act and with our Bertram High 5 buy and build strategy,” added Mr. Beerle. To drive create vale in its portfolio companies, Bertram uses an investment strategy called “High 5” which focuses on add-on acquisitions, management enhancement, supply chain optimization, sales and marketing improvement, and technology optimization.
“When we were looking to bring in an investment partner last year, we knew we wanted a group that could help accelerate our technology roadmap,” said David Lennarz, CEO of Registrar. “In the 15 months we have worked with Bertram, we have launched a number of innovative software tools that are completely new to the industry and are being enthusiastically adopted by our customers.”
Bertram invests in middle-market business services, consumer, industrial and manufacturing companies that have revenues from $25 million to $250 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $30 million. The firm is headquartered south of San Francisco in San Mateo, CA (www.bertramcapital.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | November 7, 2019
