Branford Castle has acquired Handi Quilter, a manufacturer and designer of quilting machines, from Premier Needle Arts, a portfolio company of Blue Point Capital.
Handi Quilter sells both branded and private label longarm quilting machines. The company also produces quilting tables and frames as well as quilting accessories including replacement parts, scissors, rulers, templates and patterns.
Handi Quilter’s machines and related technology are sold through the company’s e-commerce platform and through more than 1,000 worldwide locations including independent retailers, international distributors, and OEM partners. The company was founded in 1999 by Laurel Barrus and is headquartered in North Salt Lake, Utah.
Investing alongside Branford Castle on this transaction are members of Handi Quilter’s management team including CEO Mark Hyland, and President and COO Darren Denning.
“Every day our team is focused on listening to and working with passionate makers from around the world. This allows us to live up to our founder’s philosophy – ‘designed by quilters for quilters.’ Handi Quilter supports its local retail partners to provide world-class education, best-of-class products, and feature-rich technologies for all quilt makers,” said Mr. Hyland. “Having a partner in Branford Castle that understands the passionate enthusiast market is critical. We are excited for the next stage of the Handi Quilter journey.”
Premier Needle Arts (PNA) was formed by Blue Point as a holding company to acquire Handi Quilter from High Road Capital Partners in 2014. High Road acquired Handi Quilter in 2011 from Hanover Partners and Tuckerman Capital which in turn had purchased the business in 2008 from Peterson Partners.
With the sale of Handi Quilter, the remaining pieces of PNA include Superior Threads, a Utah-based supplier of threads used in quilting and sewing (acquired in April 2016); Quilt Pro Systems, a Texas-based provider of digital and electronic design projects (acquired in December 2016); Crafts Americana Group, a Washington-based supplier of knitting, crochet, quilting, and sewing products (acquired in February 2017); and Berroco, a Rhode Island-based supplier of knitting and crochet yarns and patterns (acquired in October 2021).
“It is important to find financial partners who have the same core values as Handi Quilter,” said Mr. Denning. “Branford Castle aligns in every way with the Handi Quilter values and will continue to support and provide resources as Handi Quilter continues its growth in the coming years.”
“We are excited to partner with Mark, Darren and the Handi Quilter leadership team, honoring the joy and passion of quilting across the globe,” said Ceon Francis, a vice president at Branford Castle. “The company’s position as the leader in the longarm quilting market, along with their customer-oriented focus and approach, make it an exceptional platform for continued growth.”
New York City-based Branford Castle invests in companies that have enterprise values of up to $100 million and EBITDAs of less than $15 million. Sectors of interest include consumer products and services, commercial distribution, industrials and specialty manufacturing, business services, and logistics.
The buy of Handi Quilter is the third platform acquisition for Branford’s second fund, Branford Castle Partners II LP, which is now 30% invested. Branford Castle’s first fund, which closed in 2016, has completed its platform investing and is a top-quartile fund for its vintage year, as measured by Preqin, with gross IRRs of 47% and net IRRs of 30%.
Blue Point invests in companies that are active in the industrial, business services, consumer, and value-added distribution sectors and have from $30 million to $300 million in revenue and EBITDA greater than $7 million. The firm has offices in Cleveland, Charlotte, Seattle, and Shanghai.
Senior debt financing to support the buy of Handi Quilter is being provided by Apogem Capital and mezzanine debt financing is being provided by Siguler Guff & Company.
Stifel Nicolaus was the financial advisor to Handi Quilter on this transaction.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | June 23, 2022
U.S. Zinc, a portfolio company of Aterian Investment Partners, has acquired EverZinc, a portfolio company of OpenGate Capital.
Aterian acquired U.S. Zinc from Votorantim Group in December 2018. “We built a long-term thesis around zinc chemistry, starting with our platform investment in U.S. Zinc,” said Christopher Thomas, a co-founder and partner at Aterian. “As one of the most widely available and sustainable metals in the world, zinc is uniquely recyclable and has applications critical to our future. This investment further expands on our vision as the organization will continue to partner and innovate with its customers to lead the industry through technological and sustainable alternatives and solutions.”
“When we acquired EverZinc, we believed the business had tremendous potential for geographic expansion and innovation, and, under Vincent’s leadership, new products were developed and new markets penetrated, which re-positioned the company for growth and enhanced profitability,” said Julien Lagrèze, a partner at OpenGate. “It has been a truly rewarding experience working with Vincent and his team, and we’re confident that EverZinc is in great hands as it embarks on a new phase of growth.”
“Aterian will continue to support EverZinc through investment in capacity, technology and innovation,” said Joshua Ciampa, a managing director at Aterian. “Global applications for zinc are reaching a critical inflection point and we are pleased to be in a position to leverage our European or Asian technology for capacity in North America, and vice-versa.”
WestView Capital Partners has made an investment Summit 7 Systems, a provider of security and compliance services to the aerospace and defense industry.
“As one of the leading Microsoft AOS-G partners, Summit 7 has achieved impressive growth and is at the forefront of cybersecurity and compliance for the defense industrial base,” said Rick Williams, a managing partner at WestView. “Scott and Ben have assembled an experienced, impressive team and we are thrilled to partner with them on the next phase of growth.”
“We are excited to partner with WestView for this next step in our company’s journey,” said Mr. Edwards. “We can now execute our plans to add new solutions and offerings to our portfolio, as we continue to focus on securing and serving the defense industrial base. With WestView’s investment, it is a signal to our employees, to our clients, and to Microsoft that Summit 7 has built a strong, successful organization that is strongly positioned for the future.”
Boston-based 
D.A. Davidson & Co. has hired Yaron Redlich as a managing director and group head of the firm’s financial sponsors group.
“For the past decade, I have been focused on building strong relationships and maintaining quality dialogue with the private equity community,” said Mr. Redlich. “Throughout my career, I have had an emphasis on M&A and sponsor-led transactions with a significant portion of that time dedicated to working with middle-market sponsors and companies.”