Daniel Rubin, an operator and investor in the semiconductor equipment industry, has joined Graycliff Partners as an operating advisor.
Mr. Rubin has more than 30 years of experience in semiconductor, display, renewable energy, and biotech equipment manufacturing. He has held numerous leadership positions with large semiconductor equipment companies including Ichor Systems, Integrated Materials, Celerity, and KLA Tencor.
Graycliff and Mr. Rubin have partnered on several transactions including Impakt, a California-based manufacturer of equipment used in the semiconductor and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display industries. Graycliff invested in Impakt, with Mr. Rubin as CEO, in June 2016 and sold the business to Celestica (NYSE: CLS) for $329 million in November 2018.
Earlier, from September 2013 to December 2017, Mr. Rubin was an advisor and co-investor with Graycliff in Talon Innovations, a Minnesota-based maker of machined products, devices, and components, used by semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Talon was acquired by Ichor Systems (NASDAQ: ICHR) in December 2017 for $130 million.
“I have worked closely with the Graycliff team over the years and am impressed by their resourcefulness, dedication and expertise,” said Mr. Rubin. “I’m excited to cement my role at Graycliff and am looking forward to working with the team to drive growth and profitability across new and existing portfolio opportunities in a space I know well and in which Graycliff is a trusted and effective partner.”
In 2008, Mr. Rubin co-founded Synos Technology, a California-based maker of equipment used in the production of OLED displays. Synos was sold to Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ: VECO) in 2013. In 1990, Mr. Rubin co-founded Celerity, a maker of gas and chemical delivery subsystems used by semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers. In 2009, Celerity was acquired by Ichor Systems, then a portfolio company of American Industrial Partners.
With a focus on the $60 billion global semiconductor and display manufacturing industry, Mr. Rubin will assist Graycliff in sourcing and evaluating new investments and advising Graycliff’s portfolio companies.
“We are thrilled to formally welcome Dan to the team as an operating advisor,” said Duke Punhong, a managing partner at Graycliff. “Dan’s skills and expertise were integral to the more than 4x revenue growth we experienced at both Talon and Impakt and will be invaluable as we continue to evaluate opportunities in the semiconductor space.”
New York City-based Graycliff invests from $10 million to $50 million of control equity in companies with revenues of $10 million to $200 million and EBITDA of $4 million to $20 million. Sectors of interest include niche manufacturing, business services, and value-added distribution.
The firm was formed in December 2011 by the former investment team of HSBC Capital. In December 2019, Graycliff held a final closing of its latest buyout fund, Graycliff Private Equity Partners IV LP, at its hard cap with $350 million of limited partner commitments.
In September 2020, Graycliff acquired its first fund four platform with the buy of Gerard Daniel Worldwide, a manufacturer and distributor of wire mesh used in filtration, sound suppression, heat dispersion, and electrochemical applications. The company, headquartered 50 miles northwest of Baltimore in Hanover, Pennsylvania, operates eleven manufacturing and distribution facilities in the US, Canada, and Ireland.
Private Equity Professional | September 25, 2020
