FIP Closes Buys of American Key and Tebco

Foundation Investment Partners (FIP) has made two platform investments in recent weeks, taking stakes in American Key Supply, a national distributor of locksmith hardware and supplies, and Tebco of Kentucky, a manufacturer of custom dump bodies and truck equipment.

American Key Supply headquartered in Las Vegas, supplies professional locksmiths with automotive and commercial keys and remotes, programming tools and cables, key-cutting machines, and a range of other locksmith tools and consumables. The company also operates Locksmith University, an educational program offering instructional videos and hands-on training for industry professionals.Founded in 2009 in the San Francisco Bay Area by locksmith Cary Stevens, American Key Supply relocated to Las Vegas two years later to offer faster shipping across the western United States. The company will continue to operate under Mr. Stevens, who remains chief executive following FIP’s investment.

“We chose a partner who shares our values and will help us scale while preserving what makes us special,” said Mr. Stevens. “This investment gives us the resources to serve customers better and accelerate our growth without losing our culture.”

Tebco of Kentucky is headquartered south of Lexington in Richmond, Kentucky, manufactures custom dump bodies and distributes truck equipment throughout the eastern United States to customers operating in the mining, aggregate, construction and industrial sectors.Tebco was founded in 1991 by Mike Faulkner, who began manufacturing the company’s own steel and aluminum dump bodies in 2004 after third-party suppliers could no longer keep pace with its sales growth. Tebco has since added manufacturing facilities in Winchester and Stanton, Kentucky, the latter completed in 2021 following a $2 million expansion.

“This partnership marks an exciting new chapter for our company and our employees,” said Brandon Faulkner, Tebco’s president and Mike Faulkner’s successor. “With FIP’s resources and expertise, we can accelerate our growth while maintaining the customer-first values that have defined our success.”

Foundation Investment Partners invests in niche manufacturers, value-added distributors, and outsourced business service providers with EBITDA from $1 million to $10 million. The firm embeds its team with owners and operators of smaller businesses to provide support, guidance and resources for growth, and has built a portfolio that includes Paper Converters, AAA Industrial Supply and Spartan Tool Supply. The firm was founded in 2009 and is based near Cleveland in Solon, Ohio.