Publicly traded TransDigm Group has agreed to acquire DART Aerospace, a portfolio company of Greenbriar Equity Group, for approximately $360 million in cash.
DART designs and manufactures components for helicopters including flotation systems, landing gears, interior and exterior accessories, load expanders, cable cutters, and filters. The company also provides related repair and overhaul services for its aftermarket and original equipment customers.
DART sells more than 5,000 products and has 1,100 Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs), documents issued by the FAA approving a product (aircraft, engine, or propeller) modification.
The Montreal-headquartered company is expected to have approximately $100 million in revenue in 2022. DART has approximately 400 employees and operates from four facilities in Hawkesbury, Ontario; Portland, Oregon; Fort Collins, Colorado and Chihuahua, Mexico.
TransDigm (NYSE: TDG), is a Cleveland-headquartered designer, producer and supplier of aircraft components. The company, led by CEO Kevin Stein, was founded in 1993 by Kelso & Company to acquire four aerospace companies – Adel Fasteners, Aero Products Component Services, Controlex Corporation and Wiggins Connectors – from IMO Industries.
“We are excited about the acquisition of DART Aerospace,” said Mr. Stein. “DART is an industry leader in helicopter mission equipment and its unique helicopter solutions fit well with our proprietary and aftermarket-focused value generation strategy. The company has established positions on a diverse range of new and existing rotary-wing platforms, strong aftermarket content and an outstanding reputation with its customers. As with all TransDigm acquisitions, we expect the DART acquisition to create equity value in-line with our long-term private equity-like return objectives.”
Greenbriar is an active investor in the supply chain, business services, and advanced manufacturing sectors. In March 2021, Greenbriar held an oversubscribed closing of Greenbriar Equity Fund V LP with total capital commitments of nearly $1.7 billion. The firm was founded in 1999 and is based in Rye, New York.
The buy of DART by TransDigm is expected to close during the second quarter of 2022.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | March 15, 2022
Publicly traded Intertape Polymer Group has agreed to be acquired by Clearlake Capital Group in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.6 billion.
“We believe this transaction is a great next step in the evolution of our business as Clearlake has strong industry knowledge in the protective packaging and e-commerce ecosystems,” said Mr. Yull. “Clearlake provides us the operational and financial resources to accelerate our acquisition strategy, as well as organic growth opportunities such as investing in product innovation, sustainability, and market expansion.”
“We have a long-standing respect and admiration for Greg and his team as they have built on Intertape’s position as a key packaging and protective solutions provider to a diverse set of attractive and growing end-markets,” said José Feliciano, a co-founder and managing partner at Clearlake. “We believe Intertape’s customer-centric and sustainability-oriented approach and capabilities position the company well to capitalize on growth within its target end markets, and the addition of Intertape to our portfolio highlights our thesis that long-term consumer trends favor providers focused on sustainability and innovation.”
Clearlake invests in industrials and energy, software and technology-enabled services, and consumer sectors. The firm was co-founded by Mr. Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali in 2006 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California with an additional office in Dallas, Texas. In April 2020, Clearlake held a hard cap and oversubscribed final close of its sixth private equity fund, Clearlake Capital Partners VI LP, with more than $7 billion in commitments.
Broad Sky Partners has acquired laboratory supply and scientific equipment distributor Thomas Scientific from Carlyle Group which purchased the business in 2017.
“We are proud of our partnership with the world-class management team at Thomas Scientific to transform the business from a leading regional to a leading national player, with a comprehensive product offering, excellent customer service and reliable supply chain serving both small and large labs,” said Carlyle Managing Director Vipul Amin. “Undoubtedly, Thomas is uniquely positioned to continue to expand its market presence.”
The Hershey Company has agreed to acquire two makers of pretzels – Dot’s Pretzels, the owner of Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels (Dot’s), and Pretzels Inc. (Pretzels), a portfolio company of Peak Rock Capital, for a combined $1.2 billion in cash.
“I am proud of the progress that we’ve made as a team and am confident Hershey’s will help take a great brand we built here in North Dakota and get Dot’s Pretzels into even more people’s hands – and hearts!” said Ms. Henke.
“As the fastest growing United States pretzel brand, Dot’s Pretzels would further accelerate our success in the salty snack category, along with our successful SkinnyPop and Pirate’s Booty brands,” said Michele Buck, Hershey’s president and chief executive officer. “With a unique range of bold, distinctive seasonings and a flavorful crunch that creates a premium pretzel experience for consumers, Dot’s Pretzels stand apart from all other products in the pretzel category and represents 55 percent of the pretzel category’s growth during the past year.”
Dominus Capital has agreed to sell Cincinnati Fan & Ventilator to publicly traded SPX Corporation.
“Cincinnati Fan has become a leading player in the air movement space,” said Bob Haswell, a founding partner of Dominus. “Dominus was able to bring significant resources to professionalize the business and grow both organically and through acquisition. We completed two acquisitions, expanded capacity, and invested in new product development under our ownership. Paul, management, and the company are very well positioned to drive growth for SPX and its investors.”
“Cincinnati Fan’s well-known brand and attractive niche-engineered products are a strong fit with our global HVAC cooling business, where we already share some common distribution in the US,” said Mr. Lowe. “We see multiple opportunities to create additional value, and accelerate our combined growth, by leveraging Cincinnati Fan’s technical expertise in engineered air movement across our US and global cooling platforms.”
Founded in 2008, New York-based 
Falfurrias Capital Partners has closed the first platform acquisition for its fifth fund with the buy of Rice’s Honey from Mission Consumer Capital.
The Local Hive origin story dates to 1924 when L.R. Rice founded Rice’s Lucky Clover Honey in Greeley, Colorado. The family-owned company worked bee yards, extracted honey, filled and labeled glass jars, then sold products door-to-door in Northern Colorado. In 2017, Mission Consumer Capital, along with subordinated debt providers and co-investors Centerfield Capital and Plexus Capital, acquired the business; named food executive Tony Landretti as CEO (he had been a member of Rice’s board since 2013); and rebranded the company as Local Hive.
“Joining forces with Falfurrias will give us tremendous resources to realize our next chapter in the growth of Local Hive,” said Mr. Landretti, who will continue as CEO of the company. “Having access to food industry expertise of people like Mary-Ann Somers will be invaluable, to say nothing of the Falfurrias experience with other food companies like Carolina Foods and Sauer Brands.”
“Local Hive is the clear winner in a transition that is occurring in the retail honey category, from value-oriented, private label products to premium differentiated brands that resonate with consumers,” said Mr. Robards. “Falfurrias is the perfect partner for Local Hive as it accelerates its growth trajectory and sees continued gains in market share, distribution and velocity.”
“Our investment in Local Hive continues our ‘Industry First’ method of identifying markets – like packaged foods – with significant and durable growth potential,” said Mr. Walker. “In Local Hive we’ve found a fantastic partner with a proven track record, a highly differentiated approach, and a strong management team, everything we need to drive future growth.”
Fort Worth, Texas-based 
Kian Capital Partners has sold Driven Lighting Group (DLG) to Wheel Pros, a portfolio company of Clearlake Capital.
“DLG has shown outstanding performance since we first partnered with Matt Kossoff and the team, and we’re glad we were able to achieve an outcome the DLG team desired in terms of finding a home where they believe they can accelerate their rapid trajectory,” said Rick Cravey, a partner at Kian Capital. “This investment represents a perfect case study of what we do at Kian: provide first institutional capital to innovative entrepreneurs, and then work closely with management teams to build out systems, teams and facilities and make acquisitions through thesis-driven growth strategies. We are proud to have partnered with DLG over this period of growth and look forward to following the company in its next chapter with Wheel Pros.”
Clearlake invests in industrials and energy; software and technology-enabled services; and consumer sectors. The firm was co-founded by Jose Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali in 2006 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California with an additional office in Dallas, Texas. In April 2020, Clearlake held a hard cap and oversubscribed final close of its sixth private equity fund, Clearlake Capital Partners VI LP, with more than $7 billion in commitments.
Charlotte and Atlanta-based 
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners has acquired In-Place Machining Company (IPM) from Platte River Equity.
“My team and I are thrilled to partner with LLCP to enhance IPM’s market-leading position,” said Mr. Flint. “LLCP’s deep experience in both business services and highly engineered products makes them a unique partner as we work to continue to support our customers globally with mission-critical services.”
“We are excited to partner with Dean and the management team that has led IPM’s impressive growth over the past several years,” said Matthew Rich, a senior managing director at LLCP. “The company has demonstrated unparalleled expertise in the on-site machining industry, expanding its reach into new geographies and end markets, while broadening its service offerings. We look forward to capitalizing on IPM’s attractive growth opportunities, including organic initiatives and potential acquisitions.”
Denver-based 
Advent International has agreed to sell Distribution International, one of North America’s leading mechanical insulation distributors, to publicly traded TopBuild for $1 billion in cash.
“We are proud of what we’ve achieved working with Advent and are grateful for their support and expertise, which has been instrumental to our growth,” said Mr. Margolius. “As we take this next step, we’re eager for the new growth opportunities our partnership with TopBuild offers, underpinned by a strong, shared commitment to people, safety, and service. We look forward to working with them to continue our momentum and even better serve the needs of our customers.”
Pritzker Private Capital has acquired a significant stake in Monogram Foods, a business-to-business food maker, in partnership with HF Capital, a family investment firm.
“Since we founded Monogram in 2004, we’ve built our company guided by a culture of continuous growth, a commitment to safety and a focus on customer service,” said Mr. Schledwitz. “The Pritzker Private Capital team shares our values and is the ideal partner to support our company’s exciting next chapter. This partnership will help our company grow through strategic acquisitions, expand our nationwide facility footprint, strengthen our R&D capabilities and provide new opportunities for our talented team.”
“At Pritzker Private Capital, we look to partner with growth-focused management teams who share our long-term philosophy of building great businesses,” said Tony Pritzker, the chairman and CEO of PPC. “We are impressed by Monogram’s commitment to its people, its communities and to food safety and innovation. The company plays a vital role with its diverse customer base, and we’re delighted to partner with the Monogram team.”
Chicago-based 
Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, HF Capital invests capital on behalf of the Haslam family. James Haslam II, the family’s patriarch, founded truck stop chain Pilot Corporation in 1958. Today, Pilot is owned by the Haslam family and Berkshire Hathaway and is one of the largest privately-owned companies in the United States. Mr. Haslam’s son Jimmy is the current owner of the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns and Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew; and his other son, William Haslam, was the governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019.
