Palm Beach Capital has completed its exit from Cadre, a manufacturer and distributor of safety and survivability products.
Cadre’s core products – sold under numerous brands including SafariLand and Med-Eng – include body armor, explosive ordnance disposal equipment, and duty gear equipment. Typically, duty gear is designed to attach to a standard duty belt for rapid access in case of an emergency.
The company’s customers include federal, state, and local law enforcement, fire and rescue professionals, explosive ordnance disposal teams, emergency medical technicians, and outdoor enthusiasts. Cadre is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
Cadre was founded in 1964 as SafariLand, a custom gun holster manufacturer based in Sierra Madre, California. In 1999, SafariLand was purchased by Armor Holdings, a company controlled by investor Warren Kanders.
In 2007, after completing more than 20 add-on acquisitions, Armor Holdings was sold to BAE Systems for more than $4 billion and was renamed BAE Systems Mobility & Protection Systems (BAE MP). In 2012, Palm Beach Capital, through its third fund, partnered with Mr. Kanders to reacquire the law enforcement products business of BAE MP for $124 million. Since 2012, Cadre has completed 13 add-on acquisitions and went public (NYSE: CDRE) in November of 2021.
With its exit of Cadre now completed, Palm Beach Capital reports that it has realized proceeds equal to 9.3x its invested capital.
“We would like to sincerely thank the entire leadership team at Cadre for their vision and attention to detail in building the company into a scalable global platform protecting and serving our first responders,” said Nate Ward, a co-founder and managing partner of Palm Beach Capital. “We are proud of the company’s growth during our investment period, which is a testament to the strength and quality of the people, products, and brands at Cadre. We wish this exceptional company and management team continued success in the years to come.”
Palm Beach Capital makes control and non-control investments in United States-based companies with enterprise values from $20 million to $300 million that have at least $20 million of revenue and a minimum EBITDA of $5 million. Sectors of interest include business services, business process outsourcing, transportation and logistics, infrastructure and healthcare. Palm Beach Capital was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | November 23, 2022
