Altamont Capital Partners has sold Douglas Products to Brightstar Capital Partners.
Douglas Products is a manufacturer and distributor of branded specialty chemical products used in pest management, thermal fluids, and sanitary sewer applications. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered northeast of Kansas City in Liberty, Missouri.
Douglas’ products include Vikane, used to eliminate wood-destroying insects, bed bugs, cockroaches, spiders and rodents; ProFume, PH3, Vapocide and Dustacide which are all used to protect grain-based commodities and food processing facilities from insects and rodents; and BioStim, a microbial formulation used to control fat, oil, grease, and other organic accumulations in plumbing lines and septic systems.
Altamont first invested in Douglas Products in June 2015 in partnership with its owners and senior managers Bill Fuller and Wes Long. At that time, Douglas was acquiring the assets of the Vikane and ProFume gas fumigant business from Dow AgroSciences. In 2022, Altamont sold Duke’s Root Control, a division of Douglas, to Comvest Partners.
“We’re proud to have partnered with such a strong team at Douglas over the years,” said Randall Eason, a managing director at Altamont. “Our partnership has seen immense growth and success for Douglas since we carved the business out from Dow, and we look forward to continued success in its partnership with Brightstar.”
“Our partnership with Altamont has positioned us for long-term growth as we look to continue to expand the business,” said Mr. Long. “We are grateful for the strong support from Altamont and are excited to continue this trajectory and our dedication to quality solutions, expertise, and collaboration for distributors and customers with Brightstar.”
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 an additional office in Austin, Texas.
New York City-based Brightstar was founded in July 2015 by CEO and Managing Partner Andrew Weinberg and makes control investments of $50 million to $250 million in closely held or family-owned middle-market companies. Brightstar closed its second fund, Brightstar Capital Partners Fund II LP, at its hard cap of just over $1.25 billion in April 2021 and is currently raising its third fund with a $2 billion capital target.
“We are impressed by Douglas’ strong financial track record and its position as an environmentally responsible market leader providing critical and differentiated solutions to its agricultural and pest control customers,” said Mr. Weinberg. “We look forward to working closely with Wes and his team as they execute on both organic and acquisition growth strategies.”
Evercore was the financial advisor to Douglas Products and BMO Capital Markets was the financial advisor to Brightstar.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | September 26, 2023
