Archives for May 3, 2022

Swander Pace’s Patriot Pickle Platform Keeps Rolling

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Patriot Pickle, a Swander Pace Capital portfolio company, has acquired the pickle assets of Farm Ridge Foods.

Farm Ridge Foods is a producer of branded, private label, and third-party branded prepared foods including olives, pickles, salads and entrees that are sold through supermarkets, restaurants and delis. The company is headquartered in Islandia, New York.

Patriot Pickle is a maker of pickles and other fermented products including sauerkraut, peppers, and pickled green tomatoes. The company’s branded – K&Z, Regal Crown Foods, Natural Harvest, PickleAde – and private label products are sold through the foodservice market to distributors, restaurant chains, supermarkets, and delis.Patriot Pickle was founded in 2004 and operates from an 86,000 square foot manufacturing and headquarters facility in Wayne, New Jersey.

“This is an exciting time to be a leader in fresh pickle manufacturing,” said Bill McEntee, the CEO of Patriot Pickle. “The acquisition of Farm Ridge Foods is a key step towards rounding out and building up our internal retail sales capabilities. Fresh, refrigerated pickles are a key growth area for our retail and foodservice partners, and we are excited to be able to better serve them more directly with this acquisition.”

“The Farm Ridge Foods acquisition is a value-enhancing add-on for the Patriot Pickle investment platform and strengthens our position in the pickle category,” said Corby Reese, a managing director at Swander Pace. “We will continue to look for interesting investment opportunities within the fermented foods and pickled vegetable category to further establish Patriot Pickle as a leading fermented foods platform.”

Swander Pace invests in middle-market consumer products companies that have revenues of up to $500 million. Sectors of interest include food and beverage, body and wellness, and home and family. The firm was founded in 1996 and has offices in San Francisco, California and Bedminster, New Jersey.

© 2022 Private Equity Professional | May 3, 2022

Electromagnetic Component Maker Switches Sponsors Again

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The Jordan Company (TJC) has acquired Communications & Power Industries (CPI), a manufacturer of components that generate, transmit, and control electromagnetic energy, from Odyssey Investment Partners.

CPI manufactures more than 4,500 SKUs of electronic components including microwave amplifiers, x-ray medical imaging products, microwave power sources, microwave antenna systems and radomes. The company’s products are used in the communications, defense and medical markets. CPI, led by CEO Bob Fickett, is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

“At CPI, we are focused on accelerating innovation, by designing and manufacturing products that empower our customers both to implement and support today’s advanced systems and to develop and create the groundbreaking systems of tomorrow,” said Mr. Fickett. “TJC supports our vision for growth, and their operational expertise will be invaluable as we continue to scale our business. We are thrilled to welcome a partner that shares our mission of delivering dependable, best-in-class technology solutions.”

CPI began as the electron device business of Varian Associates, a California-based scientific and electronic components maker founded in 1948. In 1995, Varian sold the electron device business to Leonard Green & Partners which changed the corporate name to Communications & Power Industries. In 2003, the company was acquired by The Cypress Group and, seven years later, Cypress exited its investment in CPI through a sale to Veritas Capital. Veritas sold the business in 2017 to Odyssey Investment Partners.

“We are excited to partner with CPI, which is well-known in the industry for its exceptional management team and reputation for high-quality solutions across industrial technology markets,” said Erik Fagan, a partner at TJC. “CPI’s technology solutions work to power and connect their customers and we look forward to embarking on a new phase of growth with the company.”

The Jordan Company (TJC) is a middle-market private equity firm that invests in a range of industries including industrials, transportation and logistics, healthcare, consumer, telecom, technology, and utilities. The firm was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in New York City with an additional office in Chicago.

Odyssey makes control investments in middle-market companies that have from $20 million to $100 million of EBITDA and are active in the industrial and business services sectors. In February 2020, Odyssey held a first, final, and hard cap closing of Odyssey Investment Partners Fund VI LP with $3.25 billion of capital.

RBC Capital Markets and Perella Weinberg were TJC’s financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal services to TJC. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Harris Williams were the financial advisors to CPI on this transaction and Latham & Watkins provided legal services.

© 2022 Private Equity Professional | May 3, 2022

Arcline Connects Again in Connectors Market

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Arcline Investment Management has acquired Meritec, a manufacturer of electronics and connectors used in telecommunications and healthcare applications. The buy of Meritec includes its subsidiary Joy Signal Technology.

Meritec designs and manufactures interconnect embedded systems and connectors that are used in high-density and high-speed applications by original equipment manufacturers in the semiconductor, military, aerospace, medical, and industrial end markets. Meritec is headquartered near Cleveland in Painesville, Ohio, and its subsidiary Joy Signal is based in Chico, California.

“We are proud of the company we have built through the efforts of our associates and partnership with our customers,” said John Venaleck Sr., the founder of Meritec. “I am confident that great things are to come through Arcline’s investment in our future.”

With the closing of this transaction, Arcline has named Kevin Perhamus as CEO of both Meritec and Joy Signal. From 2010 to 2020, Mr. Perhamus was the CEO of Winchester Interconnect, a portfolio company of Snow Phipps that was sold to publicly traded Aptiv in 2018. Beginning in 2020, Mr. Perhamus became the CEO of Quantic Electronics which Arcline acquired in 2021.

“Meritec is a loyal partner to its customers, enabling them to bring leading technologies to their industries,” said Mr. Perhamus. “I am excited for the next phase of my partnership with Arcline and look forward to building upon the momentum Meritec has created.”

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. In February 2021, Arcline closed its second fund, Arcline Capital Partners II LP, with total capital commitments of $2.75 billion. Arcline was founded in September 2018 and has offices in San Francisco and New York.

© 2022 Private Equity Professional | May 3, 2022

RoadSafe Continues Traffic Control Build

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RoadSafe Traffic Systems, a portfolio company of Investcorp and Trilantic North America, has added on with the buy of North Valley Barricade, a provider of traffic control and construction safety products.

North Valley Barricade (NVB) is based in Yuba City, California, and is a retailer of traffic control and construction safety products.

According to RoadSafe, it is the largest national provider of pavement marking, sign installation, and traffic control services and equipment used by roadway construction, state transportation, railroad and utility customers.

RoadSafe, led by CEO David Meirick and President Joe Scarano, is headquartered in Chicago and has more than 50 locations with over 1,600 employees. RoadSafe was acquired by Investcorp and Trilantic in April 2021 from ORIX Capital Partners.

The acquisition of NVB is the sixth add-on closed by RoadSafe under Investcorp and Trilantic ownership. The five earlier add-ons include Massachusetts-based Liddell Bros (March 2022), California-based Quattuor Construction (January 2022), North Carolina-based Clark Pavement Markings (January 2022), Utah-based Barricade Services & Sales (October 2021), and Utah-based Innovative Marking Systems (May 2021).

“RoadSafe’s specialty distribution division has been one of our key organic growth engines,” said Mr. Scarano. “Our footprint allows us to provide distribution channels to some of our industry’s best and most cutting-edge manufacturers and suppliers. The strategic purchase of NVB in northern California further expands our ability to supply safety products to our customers.”

Investcorp is active in alternative investments including private equity, real estate, absolute return investments, and credit management. Since its founding in 1982, Investcorp has closed more than 195 private equity transactions across a range of sectors including retail and consumer products, technology, business services and industrials. Investcorp, with $35 billion of assets under management, has more than 430 employees with multiple offices including in New York City, London, and Bahrain.

Trilantic North America makes control and significant minority investments of $50 million to $300 million in North America-based companies that have enterprise values of $50 million to $1 billion. Trilantic was formed in 2009 by former members of Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking and is based in New York City.

© 2022 Private Equity Professional | May 3, 2022