Cennox, a portfolio company of York Private Equity, has acquired FireKing Safety and Security, a portfolio company of Pfingsten Partners.
FireKing is a manufacturer of fire-rated files and storage cabinets, and smart and traditional safe products used in the residential, financial services (including cash-in-transit companies), pharmacy, specialty retail and restaurant (including grocery stores, gas stations, and fast-food restaurants) sectors.
FireKing also provides a range of support services to its customers including delivery, installation, maintenance, rollout planning and program management. FireKing, led by President Ed Carpenter, was founded in 1951 and is headquartered near Louisville in New Albany, Indiana.
FireKing was acquired by Pfingsten in September 2010 and closed two add-on acquisitions during its ownership term with the buys of Illinois-based Corporate Safe Specialists in April 2011 and California-based Apunix in July 2012.
“The FireKing management team built an industry-leading company through product innovation and best-in-class field service,” said Thomas Bagley, the founder and senior managing director of Pfingsten. “We wish Ed and his team continued success as they embark upon their next stage of growth with Cennox.”
Cennox is a provider of field services to the financial services, commercial, retail, and transportation industries. The company has a specialization with cash automation machines and self-checkout kiosks and its support services include commissioning, installation, repair, and maintenance. Cennox has more than 1,700 employees across the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, and maintains headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and west of London in Camberley, United Kingdom.
“We are pleased to add FireKing to the Cennox family as we further expand our operations across the United States, execute on our strategic M&A pipeline and build on the company’s extensive service offerings for our clients,” said Clive Nation, the founder and CEO of Cennox. “Today, Cennox is regarded as a provider of choice by many major institutions and is valued for its deep industry expertise, consistently high-quality service, and increasing breadth of solutions. We welcome FireKing’s talented team and proven business model to Cennox as we continue to identify attractive areas for growth in the United States.”
Since its founding in 2006, Cennox has now closed 17 acquisitions including the May 2021 buy of Bancsource, a Missouri-based distributor of ATMs, self-checkout kiosks, and smart safes to more than 700 financial institutions and retailers nationwide. Bancsource was acquired by Cennox from Cleveland-based CapitalWorks which had acquired the business in 2015. York Private Equity, through its $800 million York Special Opportunities Fund III, acquired Cennox in tandem with the company’s buy of Bancsource in May 2021.
“We were confident that Cennox was poised for rapid growth, in particular as a proven M&A platform, when we partnered with Clive Nation, Nick Cockett and Roy Dodd in May of this year,” said Harish Nataraj, a managing director at York Private Equity. “We are excited by the pace of expansion having completed three acquisitions in the last six months and nearly tripling the size of the business to more than $250 million in revenue. We continue to execute on a robust M&A pipeline which will continue to expand our product, service and geographic capabilities.”
Beginning in January 2022, FireKing will be rebranded as Cennox, and the combined company will serve nearly 2,000 retail and financial services companies and will manage more than 400,000 ATMs, safes, kiosks and electric vehicle charging stations.
York Private Equity is the middle-market private investing group of York Capital Management. The group invests across numerous sectors making them effectively industry agnostic. Since its launch in 2008, the New York City-based group has completed more than 50 investments with an aggregate transaction value greater than $4 billion.
Chicago-based Pfingsten invests in middle-market manufacturing, distribution and business services companies that have transaction values ranging from $15 million to $100 million, revenues from $20 million to $150 million, and EBITDA between $3 million and $12 million. Since completing its first investment in 1991, Pfingsten has acquired 148 such companies – including 50 platforms – through five funds with total commitments of $1.3 billion.
“Pfingsten’s conservative capital structure, operational resources and global footprint allowed us to pursue our strategic objectives and build the infrastructure needed to position our business for future growth,” said Mr. Carpenter. “We are eager to join the Cennox team and continue our growth trajectory.”
WhiteHorse Capital provided debt financing to back the buy of FireKing by Cennox. TM Capital was the financial advisor to FireKing, and Duff & Phelps advised Cennox.
© 2021 Private Equity Professional | December 3, 2021
