Altamont Capital Partners has acquired Houston-based Bishop Lifting Products (BLP), a distributor of lifting products, from SBP Holdings, a portfolio company of AEA Investors since 2011.
BLP’s product line includes wire rope, slings, rigging, and related products that are sold under a range of brands including Delta Rigging and Tools, Morgan City Rentals, Matex, Woods Logging, American Wire Rope and Sling, Western Sling, and Louisiana Crane. Houston-headquartered BLP, led by CEO Harold King, was founded in 1984 and has 26 nationwide branches.
“We are excited by this partnership and look forward to working with Altamont to strengthen and grow our business,” said Mr. King. “We are in a great position to build and improve upon the areas of our business that are already thriving as we continue to provide excellent service and products for all of BLP’s clients.” Post-closing, Mr. King will continue as CEO of BLP.
“We are thrilled to join with the BLP team to solidify their position as a leading value-add distributor of lifting and rigging products and position the company for near- and long-term success,” said Randall Eason, a managing director at Altamont. “As a market leader with a strong core product and service offering, a track record of successfully integrating prior acquisitions, and a world-class team, the partnership between BLP and Altamont is a great fit.”
Altamont invests equity of $15 million to $150 million in companies that have up to $100 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include business services, healthcare, consumer and retail, industrials, and financial services. The firm was formed in 2010 by Mr. Eason, Jesse Rogers, and Keoni Schwartz who previously worked together at Golden Gate Capital and Bain & Company. Today, the firm has $4 billion of capital under management and is based in Palo Alto, California.
With the sale of BLP, Dallas-headquartered SBP Holdings, led by CEO Craig Osborne, now operates through two divisions – Industrial Hose & Rubber (through Singer Equities) and Fluid Power & Automation (through Dakota Fluid Power).
“This transaction enables us to focus and align our attention and efforts on our two core businesses and markets,” said Mr. Osborne. “Both the Industrial Hose & Rubber and Fluid Power & Automation divisions have natural customer and vendor overlap and synergies, and we look to continue aggressive acquisitions in those segments to accelerate growth.”
Last month, SBP acquired Hydrafab, a Wyoming-based provider of fabrication and repair services for hydraulic products. With the addition of Hydrafab, SBP now operates through 70 locations and has more than 1,000 employees.
Stellus Capital Management provided senior debt financing and made an equity co-investment to support Altamont’s buy of BLP.
“We appreciate our longstanding relationship with Altamont and the opportunity to support them again, along with BLP management on this platform build,” said Adam Pollock, a managing director at Stellus. “The company’s market leading position, significant product and end market breadth, and highly differentiated service orientation and mindset position it well for continued growth.”
Houston-headquartered Stellus invests from $10 million to $75 million in North American-based companies, across a range of industries, which have EBITDA from $5 million to $50 million. Transaction types include senior secured first lien, unitranche, split lien and second lien debt financings, as well as equity co-investments.
Jefferies was the financial advisor to Altamont on this transaction.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | April 5, 2022
