H.I.G. Capital has sold AVI-SPL, a provider of audiovisual and video conferencing services, to Marlin Equity Partners.
AVI-SPL is a provider of enterprise-class audiovisual (AV) and video conferencing (VC) services. The Tampa-based company, led by CEO John Zettel, is active in the design, procurement, engineering, integration, installation, and servicing of AV and VC systems for corporate office spaces, control centers, convention centers, stadiums, and educational facilities.
As part of this transaction, Marlin has merged AVI with its portfolio company Whitlock, also a provider of AV and VC services. Marlin acquired Richmond, Virginia-based Whitlock in October 2019. With this merger, the combined companies now have more than $1.3 billion of annual revenue. H.I.G. is maintaining a minority stake in the newly combined company.
“The digital workplace services industry has an incredible amount of untapped potential,” said Alex Beregovsky, a managing director at Marlin. “The combined company significantly benefits from deeper resources and enhanced local presence that will fuel communication and collaboration, while offering a world-class experience for remote working, distance learning, meeting rooms, and more. We look forward to bringing together two highly synergistic industry leaders to help them fully reach their potential and accelerate the combined company’s growth.”
AVI-SPL was formed in 2008 by Silver Lake Partners through the merger of Audio Visual Innovations (AVI) and Signal Perfection Ltd. (SPL). H.I.G. acquired AVI-SPL in April 2016 and completed five add-on acquisitions during its ownership term.
“We have established a terrific relationship with the AVI-SPL management team and are proud of the accomplishments made to position the company for continued success,” said Ricky Stokes, a managing director at H.I.G. “AVI-SPL has never been stronger and the combination with Marlin and Whitlock is an exciting new chapter for the company.”
H.I.G. specializes in providing debt and equity capital to small and medium-sized companies and invests in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
In November 2019, H.I.G. held a final and above target close of H.I.G. Middle Market LBO Fund III LP with $3.1 billion of capital commitments. H.I.G.’s earlier mid-market fund, H.I.G. Middle Market LBO Fund II LP, closed at its hard cap of $1.75 billion in February 2014. H.I.G. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Miami with 15 additional offices across the US, Europe, and South America.
Marlin invests in businesses that have revenues of $10 million to $2 billion and are active in the software, technology, healthcare, services, and industrial technology sectors. The firm, with $6.7 billion of capital under management, is headquartered in Los Angeles with an additional office in London.
Private Equity Professional | April 14, 2020
VSS and NewSpring Health Capital have formed BRC Healthcare to acquire BRC Recovery Family of Programs, a provider of addiction treatment services.
“BRC has an excellent reputation for its outstanding treatment programs, talented staff and its ability to generate consistently positive patient outcomes,” said Jeffrey Stevenson, a managing partner of VSS. “Together with NewSpring, we look forward to empowering BRC with the resources it needs to advance its high-quality continuum of care and pursue potential acquisitions of complementary programs in communities where demand for established behavioral health programs continues to grow.”
New York-based 
“At NewSpring, we’re always looking to invest in healthcare companies that bring innovative ideas and ways of thinking to markets in need of new solutions. This is exactly what BRC is doing in the addiction treatment and therapeutics space,” said Kapila Ratnam, PhD, a partner at NewSpring. “We’re thrilled to work with VSS to bring operational expertise to BRC and make additional investments in transformative healthcare companies.”
Placement agent Eaton Partners, a subsidiary of Stifel Financial, has completed a survey that reveals an overwhelming majority of institutional investors (64%) are making no changes at this time to their private market allocations despite dislocations caused by the coronavirus crisis. In fact, some institutions (15%) are increasing allocations.
“While we do see LPs committing to GPs already in the process of underwriting, we also expect there will likely be a decrease in overall fundraising activity over the coming months,” said Jeff Eaton, a partner at Eaton. “Private capital fundraising activity typically has lagged the public markets by two quarters as denominator effect impacts and updated fund valuations take hold.”
“As our survey indicates, there will also be pockets of relative strength,” said Peter Martenson, a partner at Eaton. “Investors are determining what’s on their priority list for new, interesting ideas and moving the best ones to the forefront. We expect successful fundraising will require GPs to be more focused, articulate, and transparent than ever.”
GCM Grosvenor has held a final close of Co-Investment Opportunities Fund II LP with approximately $540 million in committed capital.
“We believe properly constructed co-invest programs benefit investors’ private equity portfolios by providing complementary exposures, j-curve mitigation, and return enhancement from fee efficiency,” said Jon Levin, GCM’s president. “Our 17-year track record in co-investing, flexible investment platform, and deep relationships with top-tier sponsors enable us to source broadly and be selective in our investments.”
San Francisco-headquartered 
