April 27, 2021
Search

Private Equity Professional

Private Equity's News Leader

There is a right and a wrong in the universe, and that distinction is not hard to make.
Superman

You are here: Home / 2021 / April / Archives for 27th

Archives for April 27, 2021

Summit Park Hires Another

by

Summit Park has added a new principal to its investment team with the hiring of Andrew Gilbert.

At Summit Park, Mr. Gilbert will be active sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities, as well as monitoring the performance of the firm’s portfolio companies.

“Drew is a key hire for our firm as we continue to grow our team,” said Bob Calton, a co-founding partner at Summit Park. “He brings strong investment experience in the consumer sector and will be an integral member of our investment team across all sectors of interest to Summit Park.”

Before coming over to Summit Park, Mr. Gilbert spent more than ten years at MidOcean Partners where he focused on investments in the consumer sector. Earlier, from 2008 to 2011, he worked as an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in its leveraged finance group where he focused on raising debt capital for leveraged buyouts, acquisitions and recapitalizations.

Summit Park invests in lower middle-market companies that have operations primarily based in the Eastern half of the US and have revenues between $20 million and $100 million and EBITDA between $4 million and $12 million. Sectors of interest include business and consumer services, light manufacturing, and value-added distribution. The firm is currently investing out of its third fund, Summit Park III LP, which closed in August 2018 with $245 million of capital.

“We are excited for Drew to join our growing team in Charlotte,” said Jim Johnson, a co-founding partner at Summit Park. “He brings a wealth of investment experience and he will contribute significantly to our business from day one.”

Earlier this month, Summit Park hired Alex Sarkisian as a vice president. Like Mr. Gilbert, he is active sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities and monitoring portfolio company performance.

Summit Park was co-founded by Mr. Calton and Mr. Johnson in 2006 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

© 2021 Private Equity Professional | April 27, 2021

Gridiron’s GSM Takes Aim at New Brands

by

Good Sportsman Marketing Outdoors (GSM Outdoors), a portfolio company of Gridiron Capital, has acquired Plano Synergy’s hunting accessories and archery brands from Pure Fishing, a portfolio company of Sycamore Partners since 2019.

On March 15, 2021, Pure Fishing agreed to acquire Plano Synergy, a portfolio company of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and on April 19, 2021, it closed this acquisition. As planned, Pure Fishing has retained some brands of Plano Synergy – including the iconic Plano (tackleboxes) and Frabill (bait systems and nets) brands – and is selling its hunting accessories and archery brands to GSM Outdoors.

Gridiron acquired GSM Outdoors, a provider of accessories used in the hunting, sport shooting, and outdoor enthusiast markets, from Sentinel Capital in November 2020.

GSM is a developer, manufacturer, marketer, and seller of a portfolio of branded hunting and sport shooting products including Stealth Cam (game scouting cameras); Cyclops (specialty outdoor lighting); Walker’s (hearing protection and enhancement devices); Western Rivers (game calls); American Hunter (game feeders); HME (hunting knives and tools); and SME (targets and related accessories). Other company-owned brands include Muddy Outdoors, Birchwood Casey, Big Game, and Hawk.

GSM’s products are sold through online retailers, sporting goods stores, mass merchants, outdoorsman retailers, farm and fleet stores, and dealers/distributors across the US and Canada. GSM, led by CEO Eddie Castro, was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

The acquired Plano Synergy’s hunting and archery brands include Wildgame Innovations (attractants), Ameristep (ground blinds), Tenzing (hunting packs), Zink (game calls), Halo Optics (rangefinders), Flextone (game calls), Avian X (decoys), Evolved (feeds, seeds and attractants), Barnett (crossbows), and Zero Trace (scent elimination).

Sycamore Partners acquired Pure Fishing from Newell Brands in January 2019 for $1.3 billion. Pure Fishing manufactures and sells fishing tackle, lures, rods and reels and other outdoor and recreational lifestyle products. The company has an extensive portfolio of brand names including Abu Garcia, Berkley, Shakespeare, SpiderWire, and Stren. Pure Fishing, headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, traces its roots back to 1937 when Berkley Bedell founded the Berkley Fly Co. in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

“The acquisition of these well-established hunting and archery brands is another successful milestone in GSM Outdoors’ strategic growth plan,” said Kevin Jackson, a managing partner at Gridiron. “The GSM Outdoors’ team has a proven track record of innovation, new product development, and channel growth, and this investment reinforces the company’s commitment to strong stewardship of leading consumer brands and support for the outdoor enthusiast market.”

“This is GSM Outdoors’ fourth strategic acquisition since Gridiron Capital began its partnership with the company, and like the other three partnerships, GSM Outdoors is eager to leverage its unique product development innovation engine to drive continued growth of these renowned Plano Synergy brands,” said John Warner, a managing director at Gridiron. “With GSM Outdoors’ distribution capabilities and deep network of relationships, Plano Synergy’s loyal consumers will be able to purchase their favorite products from additional retailers.”

Gridiron invests in manufacturing, service, and specialty consumer companies with enterprise values from $75 million to $575 million and EBITDA from $8 million to $50 million. Sectors of interest include branded consumer, business-to-business and business-to-consumer services, and niche industrial. New Canaan, Connecticut-based Gridiron held a hard-cap and oversubscribed closing of its largest fund, Gridiron Capital Fund IV LP, in December 2020 with $1.35 billion of capital.

© 2021 Private Equity Professional | April 27, 2021

Arcline Acquires Electric Grid Platform from IGP

by

Industrial Growth Partners (IGP) has sold Electric Power Systems International (EPS) and North American Substation Services (NASS) (together EPS-NASS) to Arcline Investment Management.

As part of its transaction with Arcline, IGP has reinvested in EPS-NASS and maintains a minority equity position.

EPS-NASS is a provider of outsourced electrical engineering, testing, repair, and maintenance services. The company specializes in electrical substation equipment including protective relay and control systems, breakers, transformers, batteries and switchgear. EPS-NASS’ customers include companies active in the utility, industrial, transit, data centers, and commercial markets.

IGP purchased a controlling interest in Orlando-based NASS in December 2014 and acquired St. Louis-based EPS in November 2018. EPS is led by CEO Steve Reed and NASS is led by President Daniel Niccum.

According to Arcline, the recurring services provided by EPS-NASS are critical to the maintenance, upgrade, and operation of the United States’ electrical power grid, which is undergoing long-term investment to modernize its aged asset base, increase reliability and security, and build renewable power generation capacity.

“Critical infrastructure services and energy transition are two of Arcline’s primary investment themes, and the combination of EPS and NASS brings together two industry leaders in these areas,” said Arcline in a released statement. “We look forward to supporting these two great businesses as they perform the essential work of upgrading and maintaining the nation’s electrical infrastructure.”

Arcline makes control investments in companies that have from $10 million to $100 million of EBITDA and enterprise values of up to $1 billion. Sectors of interest include defense and aerospace; infrastructure services; industrial and medical technology; life sciences and specialty materials. Arcline was founded in September 2018 and has offices in San Francisco and New York.

In February 2021, Arcline closed its second fund, Arcline Capital Partners II LP, with total capital commitments of $2.75 billion. Arcline’s buy of EPS-NASS follows the acquisition last month of PDC Machines, a Philadelphia-based manufacturer of specialty gas compression systems that are used in all stages of the hydrogen energy supply chain, including hydrogen production, transportation, storage, and refueling. Typical applications for the company’s products include fueling hydrogen-powered vehicles; filling cylinders and bulk storage tanks with process gases; and the conversion of wind and solar energy to hydrogen power.

San Francisco-based IGP invests in niche manufacturers and industrial services businesses that have histories of profitability and revenues of up to $250 million. In July 2019, IGP sold Integrated Polymer Solutions, a manufacturer of elastomeric components for defense, aerospace and medical applications, to Arcline.

Harris Williams was the financial advisor to Arcline, and Stifel and William Blair were the financial advisors to IGP.

© 2021 Private Equity Professional | April 27, 2021

To search in site, type your keyword and hit enter