Audax Private Equity has acquired Rensa Filtration, a maker of consumable air filtration products, from Edgewater Funds and Duchossois Capital Management.
Edgewater and Duchossois partnered with industry executive Brandon Ost in 2017 to form Air Filtration Holdings as a platform to acquire companies that manufacture air filtration products used in commercial and industrial systems. Now, in partnership with Audax, Rensa will continue its strategy to acquire filtration product suppliers. Mr. Ost and other members of the company’s senior management team will continue to lead the company and will maintain a significant equity ownership position.
Since 2017, Rensa has acquired Viskon-Aire, a Maryland-headquartered manufacturer of air and paint filtration products used in commercial and industrial HVAC and paint spray booth applications (July 2017); Permatron, an Illinois-based manufacturer of air filter components (September 2017); RoboVent, a Michigan-based maker of air filtration equipment and systems used in welding, cutting and metalworking applications (February 2018); D-Mark, a Michigan-based manufacturer of molecular filtration products (October 2018); Air Filters, Inc., a Texas-based full-line filtration products manufacturer (October 2018); and Custom Filter, an Illinois-based maker of HEPA and ULPA filters (August 2021).
Today, Rensa Filtration has facilities in Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas, and goes to market under six company-owned brands including Rensa, Custom Filter, Viskon-Aire, Permatron, D Mark, and Air Filters, Inc.
“Rensa is a distinguished leader in the air filtration manufacturing space, with a highly diversified product portfolio across key end markets,” said Andrew Oliver, a managing director at Audax Private Equity. “We look forward to supporting the company as it continues its impressive growth trajectory, providing mission-critical products to its valued customers.”
“Since our founding, Rensa has honored its commitment to engineering excellence, continuous improvement, and innovation—and Audax’s investment is a critical piece of our overall strategy as we continue to build a world-class filtration business,” said Mr. Ost. “We believe Rensa has never been better positioned for growth and look forward to benefiting from Audax’s proven expertise and value-add resources.”
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Brandon and the talented team at Rensa to help drive growth, both organically and through strategic M&A,” said Joe Rogers, a managing director at Audax Private Equity. “With our investment, Rensa will be well-positioned to deepen relationships with key customers and channels, expand the company’s manufacturing footprint and capabilities, and increase exposure to rapidly growing markets.”
Audax invests in middle-market companies that have from $8 million to $50 million in EBITDA and enterprise values of $50 million to $400 million. Sectors of interest include business and consumer services; energy; healthcare; technology, media and telecom; and industrials including chemicals, infrastructure, and building materials. Audax, with offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco, is currently investing out of its $3.5 billion, sixth private equity fund.
Lincoln International was the financial advisor to Audax and Baird was the financial advisor to Rensa.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | August 18, 2022
Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP) has closed its oversubscribed sixth investment fund, Thompson Street Capital Partners VI LP, with total commitments exceeding the $1.5 billion target.
“Our focus when we launched the firm 22 years ago was to invest in exceptional companies and facilitate their strategic growth, and our track record illustrates we’ve done exactly that,” said Jim Cooper, the founder and a managing partner of TSCP. “The support for Fund VI from both existing and new investors has been excellent, demonstrating confidence in the strength of our team and the success of our investment approach.”
“We are excited to continue to grow our firm, as we remain committed to our fundamental strategy of partnering with founders and management teams in our core industries of focus and then providing the right support and resources to help these already-exceptional businesses achieve accelerated growth – creating value for founders, management teams and our investors,” said Bob Dunn, a managing partner of TSCP.
New York-based 
“Driven by a talented team of investment professionals, Thompson Street deploys a differentiated investment approach that has provided strong and consistent returns to investors for over two decades. We are excited to partner with them on this next chapter,” said Lauren Rich, a managing director at Wafra.
Specialty distributor All Star Auto Lights, a portfolio company of Atlantic Street Capital, has acquired Blackburn OEM Wheel Solutions. Atlantic Street acquired All Star Auto Lights in September 2019.
“We are excited to add Blackburn to All Star’s family of brands,” said Phil Druce, a partner at Atlantic Street Capital. “With 13 sites and over 400 employees, All Star is positioned as a national player with collision and body shops, tire and service centers, rental car, and auction house customers to profitably repair cars faster with the highest value OEM alternative replacement parts.”
Private equity buyers continued to tap the brakes in the second quarter, according to GF Data’s August report.
“We continue to hear anecdotal reports that non-bank lenders are reining in debt packages even on highly desirable properties,” said Andrew Greenberg, a GF Data founder. “If true, this development has not yet had an impact on aggregate debt multiples.”
“This is unusual and suggests that more high-performers are choosing to take chips off the table rather than to substantially exit,” said Bob Dunn, a managing director with GF Data.
