Paceline Equity Partners has acquired AHF Products, a manufacturer of hard surface flooring products, from American Industrial Partners.
AHF manufactures and distributes solid wood, engineered wood, and stone-polymer composite (SPC) flooring products that are sold through full-line flooring distributors, big-box home centers, national flooring retailers, and hardwood specialty distributors. AHF’s products are sold under numerous brand names including Bruce, Hartco, Homerwood, Capella, Robbins, Parterre, Raintree, Heartwood, Autograph and Tmbr.
According to Paceline, AHF is the largest hardwood flooring manufacturer in North America with eight manufacturing facilities – seven in the United States and one in Cambodia – and three domestic distribution facilities.
In April 2016, Armstrong World Industries spun off its Armstrong Flooring business as a separate publicly traded company (NYSE: AFI). Later, in December 2018, American Industrial Partners, through its sixth fund, formed AHF Products to acquire the wood flooring business of Armstrong Flooring for $100 million.
Today, AHF is led by CEO Brian Carson and is headquartered near Philadelphia in Mountville, Pennsylvania. The company has more than 2,500 employees and annual revenues of more than $450 million. “AHF has seen incredible growth since its inception in 2019, and we are thrilled to be partnered with Paceline given our shared visions for growth and their team’s experience in the building products industry,” said Mr. Carson.
“The Paceline team has extensive experience from our time together at a global private equity manager and a history of success in the building products industry, having completed six platform investments and over 40 bolt-on acquisitions,” said Leigh Sansone, the chief investment officer of Paceline. “Our team will leverage its prior expertise, including long-standing industry relationships, to help AHF grow both organically and inorganically.”
Paceline invests in value-oriented and special situations investments across real assets, corporate debt, and private equity. Paceline was formed in September 2018 by former members of the senior leadership team of Lone Star Funds.
“AHF is primed to benefit from strong outlooks in residential repair & remodel spend and new residential housing construction, driven by an aging housing stock, record home equity levels, and a severe inventory shortage from years of underbuilding,” said Sam Loughlin, the chief executive officer of Paceline. “Further, the company’s domestic production capacity provides insulation from volatility around tariffs, duties, and high shipping costs, which positions AHF well to continue providing superior customer service given the dislocated global supply chain.”
Paceline Equity Partners is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | February 3, 2022
