May River Capital has completed the acquisition of Marion Process Solutions, a maker of industrial mixers and blenders.
Marion manufactures food, chemical, plastic, and mineral mixers and blenders, as well as microwave vacuum drying systems for customers in the food, nutraceutical, mineral, plastic, chemical, and biomass industries. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Marion, IA (www.marionsolutions.com).
Marion Process Solutions was formerly known as Marion Mixers but changed its name in January 2015 to better reflect its product and service capabilities. May River acquired Marion from Barry Boyer and Jim Hoke who owned and grew the business for more than 20 years. Marion’s CEO, Lee Eilers, will continue to lead the company under May River ownership.
The buy of Marion represents the first acquisition by May River in its objective of forming a new global materials processing solutions and services platform. “May River believes there is a terrific opportunity in front of Marion and we’re excited to partner with management and assist the company through its next phase of growth,” said Chip Grace, a partner at May River. “The former owners and the senior leadership team have built a very strong foundation at Marion through excellent customer service and innovative, market-leading products. We aim to build on this foundation by providing financial and strategic resources to the management team and employees to help accelerate the growth profile of the company.”
Chicago-based May River invests from $15 million to $40 million of equity in companies with enterprise values of $15 million to $75 million, revenues of at least $10 million, and EBITDA of at least $3 million. Sectors of interest include precision manufacturing, engineered products, specialized industrial services, and value-added industrial distribution businesses. May River was founded in February 2012 and closed its inaugural fund, May River Fund I LP, in March 2017 with total limited partner commitments of $165 million. The new fund was raised in just six months and closed above target (www.mayrivercapital.com).
Chicago-based Billow, Butler & Company (www.billowbutler.com) was the financial advisor to Marion Process Solutions.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 10, 2019
