Resilience Capital Partners has sold its portfolio company ChemDesign, a provider of toll manufacturing services to the global chemical industry, to private equity firm Lubar & Co. Resilience acquired ChemDesign in October 2006 in a Chapter 11 Section 363 bankruptcy sale.
The sale of ChemDesign generated a 3.8x net return on invested capital and a 25.9% net internal rate of return. “Our investment in ChemDesign is a great case study in corporate renewal. Through hard work, vision, and an operations oriented approach real value was created for the benefit of all the company’s stakeholders,” said Bassem Mansour, Co-CEO of Resilience.
ChemDesign is a provider of toll manufacturing services to the global chemical industry. Toll manufacturers provide a processing or manufacturing service on a customer’s product for a fee or toll. ChemDesign has expertise in low pressure hydrogenations, condensation chemistry, multi-step synthesis, methylations and serves the agricultural chemicals, consumer, energy, industrial and plastics industries. Many large chemical companies are increasingly turning to domestic toll processors, such as ChemDesign, to drive potential cost savings, reduce internal assets, and allow them to shift their focus toward research and development and away from non-core processes. ChemDesign was founded in 1982 and is based in Marinette, WI (www.chemdesign.com).
“I am proud of our many accomplishments”, said David Mielke, ChemDesign’s CEO. “Resilience, as a partner, has been critical to our success by providing the capital structure at the onset and supporting the management team through a dynamic transition in an unpredictable economic climate. I have found the working relationship and support between the management team and Resilience unique and refreshing. They balance high standards of performance with a true understanding of the business and its capabilities.”
Resilience Capital Partners specializes in investing in lower middle market companies across a range of industries. Resilience’s investment strategy is to acquire companies in a variety of special situations including underperformers, corporate divestitures, turnarounds, and orphan public companies. Since its inception in 2001, Resilience has acquired 27 companies under 19 platforms with over $2.5 billion in revenue. The firm is based in Cleveland, OH (www.resiliencecapital.com).
Lubar & Co. invests in middle market companies located from the Great Lakes to Texas that have revenues of $30 million or more and EBITDA of $5 million to $30 million. Sectors of interest include niche manufacturing; business services; energy; food; architecture, engineering and construction; finance and asset management; healthcare; and banking. The firm is based in Milwaukee, WI (www.lubar.com).
“This is an exceptionally talented, knowledgeable and experienced organization and we look forward to a rewarding relationship with CEO Dave Mielke and the rest of the ChemDesign team,” said David Lubar. “The company is well positioned to grow and create long-term partnerships with current and new customers who are well suited to their capabilities.”
Jones Day served as legal counsel and Dresner Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to ChemDesign and Resilience.
© 2012 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-28-12
