Wrist Group Sails Into Defense Logistics With MSA Deal

Wrist Group, an Aalborg, Denmark marine-supply and logistics company that provisions ships across more than 750 ports, has acquired Military Services Australia and Downie Jones Ship Stores, together known as MSA, a provider of husbanding and maritime-logistics services to defense and naval customers across Australia and the Indo-Pacific. Wrist is a portfolio company of J.F. Lehman & Company, a private equity firm that invests exclusively in aerospace, defense, government, maritime, environmental, and infrastructure businesses. The deal expands Wrist’s defense-logistics presence in the Indo-Pacific. Peter Price is chief executive of MSA; Anders Skipper is group chief financial officer of Wrist; and Will Hanenberg, a partner at J.F. Lehman, chairs Wrist. Founded in 1992, J.F. Lehman manages more than $9 billion. Jones Day served as lead legal counsel to Wrist, with Gorrissen Federspiel providing additional support; KPMG Corporate Finance advised MSA on financial and tax matters, with Talbot Sayer as legal counsel.