Vance Street Capital has sold Fermatex Vascular Technologies, to Spectrum Plastics Group, a portfolio company of AEA.
Fermatex designs and manufactures high pressure braided tubing and complex medical extrusions that are used by medical device OEMs. The company has material capabilities in nylons, polyolefins, thermoplastic elastomers, thermoplastic polyurethanes, and high-temperature polymers.
The company was founded as Adam Spence Corporation in 1960 and is headquartered in Wall Township, NJ (www.fermatex.com). Under Spectrum ownership, the company will go to market as Adam Spence Vascular Technologies, a Spectrum Plastics Group company.
Spectrum designs and manufactures custom and specialty plastics products for niche, high value-added end markets, including medical, food and industrial applications. The company has multiple manufacturing capabilities including thermoplastic and silicone tubing extrusion, injection molding, film, packaging, assembly and value-add manufacturing. The company has 15 plants located in five countries (United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ireland and Malaysia) and approximately 2,000 employees. Spectrum is headquartered in Alpharetta, GA (www.spgindustries.com).
The buy of Fermatex is the second add-on acquisition completed by Spectrum since being acquired by AEA from Kohlberg & Company in January 2018. In February 2018, Spectrum acquired Apex Resource Technologies, a Pittsfield, MA-based maker of plastic medical components including permanent and absorbable implantable anchors (www.apexresourcetech.com).
“Spectrum Plastics Group viewed Fermatex as a strategic asset due to the adjacent categories each business serves, the broad customer base and unique product offering,” said Brian Martin, a Partner at Vance Street. Vance Street reinvested a portion of its proceeds from this transaction in Spectrum.
Vance Street formed Fermatex in September 2017 to acquire two Wall Township, NJ-based manufacturing facilities and related operations from W. L. Gore, a multinational manufacturing company specializing in products derived from fluoropolymers. “We acquired a premier asset known for producing best-in-class high pressure braided tubing. Prior to the acquisition, the business was primarily focused on servicing internal demand. Post-acquisition, Vance Street rebuilt the sales and marketing capabilities of the business, which quickly received positive feedback in the marketplace and drove increased sales and better customer engagement,” said Mike Janish, a Partner at Vance Street.
Vance Street makes control investments in companies with enterprise values of $30 million to $200 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $20 million. Sectors of interest include aerospace, defense, industrial, and medical. The firm is based in Los Angeles (www.vancestreetcapital.com).
AEA makes equity and debt investments in middle market companies that are active in the retail and consumer products, services, specialty chemicals, and value-added industrial products sectors. The firm manages approximately $10 billion of capital. AEA was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in New York (www.aeainvestors.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | May 29, 2018
