LongueVue Capital has sold TileBar, a direct-to-consumer tile and flooring brand, to AEA Investors.
TileBar is a provider of mosaic, tile, and other specialty interior products to residential and commercial contractors, architects, design firms, developers, and individual consumers.
TileBar operates a warehouse facility in New Jersey and its products are sold through a range of channels including its TileBar.com e-commerce platform, a network of wholesale stores, and showrooms in New York City and Paramus, New Jersey. TileBar is headquartered near Yonkers in Inwood, New York, and has approximately 575 employees.
During LongueVue’s ownership, TileBar more than quadrupled its revenues by expanding its sales channels and product categories, launching new showrooms, and investing in its website and technology platform. The company also tripled its employee headcount and doubled its warehouse capacity to 500,000 sq. ft.
LongueVue acquired TileBar (then Soho Studio Corp.) in partnership with the company’s founder and CEO Eli Mechlovitz in June 2019.
“LongueVue’s experience scaling founder-owned companies – coupled with their commitment to providing the capital, guidance, and resources to accelerate our strategic goals – made them the ideal partner to unlock TileBar’s extraordinary potential,” said Mr. Mechlovitz. “We will cherish the strong relationships that the entire organization has developed with LongueVue, and we are excited for TileBar’s next chapter of growth with AEA.”
“Eli and the TileBar team are a perfect example of how growth and value can be unlocked through LongueVue’s partnership approach of empowering entrepreneurs with infrastructure, expertise, and capital. It has been a pleasure working alongside the TileBar team to support the company’s incredible transformation over the last few years,” added Rick Rees, the chairman and co-founder at LongueVue.
LongueVue makes equity and debt investments of $10 million to $50 million in companies that have over $3 million of EBITDA and up to $150 million of annual revenue. The firm is typically the first institutional investor in its founder-owned target companies. Sectors of interest include healthcare, transportation and logistics, specialty manufacturing, industrial services, consumer, food and beverage, and specialty packaging.
In October 2022, LongueVue held an oversubscribed and hard cap final closing of LongueVue Capital Partners IV LP with $360 million of capital. The sale of TileBar is the firm’s fourth exit for its $252 million third fund closed which closed in 2017. LongueVue was founded in 2001 and is based in New Orleans with an additional office in Park City, Utah.
“Eli and the TileBar management team have been extraordinary partners,” said Ryan Nagim, a managing partner at LongueVue. “TileBar has realized transformative growth in a short period of time as a direct result of the team’s ability to execute Eli’s vision. The company is a true disruptor in its respective categories, and we are excited to watch the company’s continued success.”
In addition to Mr. Nagim and Mr. Rees, other members of LongueVue’s TileBar transaction team included Partner Max Vorhoff, Principal Evan Golden, Senior Associate Erin Saer, Associate Rankin Hobbs, and Operating Partner Chris Homeister.
AEA invests across three sectors – value-added industrials, consumer, and services – and has 100 investment professionals at its headquarters in New York City with additional offices in Stamford, San Francisco, London, Munich, and Shanghai. AEA was founded in 1968 by the Rockefeller, Mellon, and Harriman family interests and S.G. Warburg & Co.
William Blair & Company was the financial advisor to TileBar on this transaction.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | April 5, 2023
