Odyssey Investment Partners has agreed to acquire Protective Industrial Products from Audax Private Equity.
Protective Industrial Products (PIP) is a provider of hand protection products and other consumable personal protective equipment (PPE). The company’s products, which total more than 5000 SKUs, include hand and arm, eye, head, hearing, body, and respiratory protection.
PIP’s hand protection products include chemical-protective, cut-resistant cleanroom and food-service handling gloves. Company-owned brand names include G-Tek, Bouton, Ironcat, Assurance, Kut-Gard, CleanTeam, QRP, and Ambi-Dex.
PIP was founded by members of the Milot and Tao families in 1984 and is today led by CEO Joe Milot. The company has more than 1,000 employees, 1.5 million square feet of warehousing space (1.3 million in the US), and additional capabilities in Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, Australia and China.
Under Odyssey ownership, Mr. Milot will continue to lead the company and the Milot and Tao families will continue to maintain an ownership position in the company.
“We look forward to pursuing a multi-pronged growth strategy for PIP, including both organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions,” said Henry Bendit, a principal at Odyssey. “Given its scale and proven success with integrating prior acquisitions, PIP is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the fragmented global PPE market to grow within its current core offerings, while expanding further into adjacent PPE categories, both in the US and internationally.”
Odyssey makes control investments in middle-market companies that have from $20 million to $100 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include industrial and business services. Within the firm’s target sectors, areas of specific focus include aerospace, defense, insurance services, safety & testing, automated equipment & components, industrial services, equipment rental, pharma services, energy services and packaging. In February 2020, Odyssey held a first, final, and hard cap closing of Odyssey Investment Partners Fund VI LP with $3.25 billion of capital.
“The acquisition of PIP builds on Odyssey’s history of investing in the PPE and industrial safety sectors,” said Craig Staub, a senior managing principal at Odyssey. “PIP, over many years, has a proven track record of product innovation and differentiated service to its customers across multiple segments and channels. We are delighted to partner with Joe and the entire PIP team to execute on our shared growth vision in the years to come.”
Audax acquired PIP in partnership with the company’s founding Milot and Tao families in February 2018. The firm invests in middle-market companies that have from $8 million to $50 million in EBITDA and enterprise values of $50 million to $400 million. Sectors of interest include business and consumer services; energy; healthcare; technology, media and telecom; and industrials including chemicals, infrastructure, and building materials. Audax has offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco
© 2020 Private Equity Professional | December 16, 2020
