New Platform

Sheridan Capital Partners has acquired Carolina Components Group, a manufacturer of single-use assemblies and components used to make biopharmaceuticals.

Carolina Components Group (CCG) makes the fluid-handling hardware that carries biologic drugs through a factory. The company’s core products are single-use assemblies — pre-assembled, pre-sterilized sets of tubing, bags, connectors and fittings that are used once and discarded, sparing drugmakers the labor of cleaning and re-sterilizing stainless-steel equipment between batches. The company builds these assemblies to each customer’s specifications in clean rooms at its Durham facility and ships them in hermetically sealed bags ready to install.CCG also makes two- and three-dimensional bioprocessing bags used to transfer and store fluids in volumes from 50 milliliters to 3,000 liters, storage and mixing tanks across a similar range, aseptic connectors, bottle-closure systems and the FlowMixer, a benchtop mixing device for single-use applications. Customers of CCG include more than 250 biopharmaceutical and contract manufacturing companies.

Durham, North Carolina-headquartered CCG was founded in 2020 by John Cooling. Following the close, Mr. Cooling retains an equity interest in CCG and has joined the company’s board of directors.

“The team at CCG has worked extremely hard to develop our reputation as a high-quality provider of custom solutions to our customers,” said Mr. Cooling. “We are excited to partner with Sheridan, whose operational resources and knowledge of our market will enable us to accelerate growth with our customers.”

CCG’s new chief executive is Maurice Phelan, who joins the company from Sartorius, where he had led the German bioprocessing group’s North American operations as president since January 2023, overseeing several thousand employees across the region. His earlier career spans senior roles at Repligen, at GE Healthcare’s life sciences business, now Cytiva, and at Merck Millipore.

“I am thrilled to be joining CCG and I look forward to partnering with the existing team and Sheridan to continue the company’s strong legacy of quality, expertise and deep customer focus,” said Mr. Phelan. “With Sheridan’s support and guidance, we are well-positioned to expand our offerings and deepen relationships across our diversified blue-chip customer base.”

Biopharmaceutical manufacturing has shifted over the past two decades away from fixed stainless-steel systems toward single-use, or disposable, equipment. Because single-use components arrive sterile and are thrown away after one batch, they reduce the risk of cross-contamination and let manufacturers switch between products more quickly, an advantage as production has broadened from a handful of blockbuster biologics to a wider set of therapies, including cell and gene treatments made in smaller volumes. The growth of contract manufacturers, which produce drugs on behalf of pharmaceutical companies, has added further demand for the consumable assemblies that CCG supplies.

Sheridan Capital’s acquisition of CCG extends a thesis the firm has pursued across the pharmaceutical manufacturing supply chain, a segment characterized by recurring, consumable demand tied to regulated production volumes rather than to the commercial success of any single drug.

“CCG is the result of our multi-year thesis in the pharmaceutical manufacturing supply chain, and we are very excited to be partnering with the company at this inflection point,” said Michael Bernard, a partner at Sheridan.

Sheridan Capital invests in recession-resistant, non-discretionary markets within the healthcare industry including service providers, information technology, outsourced services, consumer health, and medical products. For service providers and medical product manufacturers it makes investments of $30 million to $150 million in companies with $5 million to $25 million of EBITDA. For software and technology companies, it makes investments of $15 million to $150 million in companies with up to $10 million of EBITDA and revenues of $5 million to $30 million.  Sheridan Capital closed its latest fund, Sheridan Capital Partners Fund III LP, at its hard cap with $575 million of capital in July 2023.

The transaction was led by Sean Dempsey, Michael Bernard and Conor Kolstad of Sheridan.

Houlihan Lokey was the financial advisor to Carolina Components Group.

Altair Industries has acquired Central Wire Industries, a manufacturer of specialty alloy wire and cable products used in aerospace, defense and other demanding industrial applications.

Central Wire (CWI) draws and shapes metal wire and cable from specialty alloys — metals blended for strength, heat tolerance or corrosion resistance beyond what ordinary steel provides. The company’s metal capabilities include stainless steel, nickel alloys and red metals, the copper-based family that includes brass and bronze.

CWI has assembled much of its footprint through acquisition. The company acquired National Filtration (1989), followed by the South Carolina-based wire operations of Nucor (1998). In the 2000s the company added Greening Donald, a Canada-based wire maker (2003); Techalloy, a Baltimore-based provider of welding consumables (2005); and a Wisconsin-based steel facility from Charter Specialty Steel (2010). In the mid-2010s CWI widened its product range and geographic reach with the acquisitions of Florida-based Strand Core (2014); UK-based Hempel Wire (2015); Indiana-based wire-rope maker Sanlo (2016); and Connecticut-based specialty wire and cable maker Loos & Co. (2018).

CWI was founded in 1955 as a maker of fine-diameter red-metal wire for weaving fourdrinier fabric, the fine wire mesh that carries and drains wet pulp on a paper machine to form a sheet of paper. It later built expertise in fine stainless-steel wire and expanded into nickel alloys.

Today, CWI makes products such as ultra-fine wire, shaped-profile wire and wire-rope strands for uses that cannot tolerate failure, where buyers specify exact metal properties, tight dimensions and long service life. The company operates 12 manufacturing sites across the United States, Canada and Europe and serves more than 3,000 customers a year in the aerospace and defense, industrial, medical and energy markets. CWI is led by president and chief executive officer Paul From and is headquartered near Ottawa in Perth, Ontario.

“We were looking for a partner who shared our commitment to scaling the business and operational excellence,” said Mr. From. “Altair stood out to us because of their disciplined operating approach, hands-on partnership model, and deep understanding of the industries and customers we serve. We are excited to partner with Altair and the future opportunities this acquisition creates for our employees, customers, suppliers, and industry partners.”

Specialty alloy wire sits at the unglamorous but critical base of the aerospace, defense and industrial supply chain. A jet-engine fastener, a surgical spring, a naval cable or a downhole energy component may each depend on wire drawn to precise dimensions from an alloy chosen to resist heat, corrosion or fatigue, and a failure in that small part can disable the larger system. Demand for such materials has been rising as manufacturers and defense programs press to secure supply closer to home, with concerns about the resilience of global supply chains and a preference for U.S.-based sourcing of mission-critical components making domestic producers of engineered metals more sought after.

The purchase fits the strategy Altair set out when it was founded in 2025: to back middle-market manufacturers positioned for the reshoring of production and the expansion of defense budgets. Central Wire is the firm’s first platform investment.

“CWI has built an exceptional platform comprised of a talented team, deep customer relationships, and a dependable supply chain that few competitors can match,” said Altair in a statement. “Specialty manufacturing for A&D and mission-critical industrial applications is exactly where we believe we can add significant value, and we see significant opportunity to invest in the company’s capacity, capabilities, and people to support its next phase of growth. We look forward to partnering with the CWI team and helping the company scale in this next chapter.”

Altair Industries invests in North America-based manufacturing and service companies with at least $10 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include aerospace and defense, government services, specialty manufacturing, and industrial services. The New York City-based firm was founded in 2025 by David Waxman and Michael Livanos, both founding members and longtime executives of the industrials investor Stellex Capital Management. Altair launched with backing from Taproot Capital and is raising its debut fund, Altair Industries Fund I LP, which is seeking up to $550 million of capital.

Silver Point Capital led the financing facility to support the acquisition of CWI by Altair Industries. “Silver Point is pleased to partner with Altair Industries and lead this financing in support of its acquisition of CWI,” said Anthony DiNello, the head of direct lending at Silver Point. “This transaction is among the first investments from Altair’s debut fund, and we’re proud to work alongside the firm to deliver a financing solution designed to support CWI in its next phase of growth.”

Silver Point is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, with offices in Chicago, Charlotte, Los Angeles and Palo Alto, and $50 billion in investable assets, including more than $18 billion in direct lending strategies serving private equity-backed and sponsor-less borrowers.

Gemspring Capital has partnered with Key Line Construction and Palouse Power to combine the two Pacific Northwest contractors into a single utility infrastructure services platform.

Oregon-headquartered Key Line Construction and Washington-headquartered Palouse Power build and maintain the physical equipment that moves electricity from power plants to homes and businesses. Between them they handle construction and maintenance across electric distribution lines, high-voltage transmission, substations and communications infrastructure for investor-owned utilities, federal power agencies, electric cooperatives and public utility districts.Key Line is one of the few regional contractors able to perform both the electrical work and the civil work — excavation, foundations and site preparation — on a utility project itself, which gives it flexibility on demanding jobs in remote terrain. Palouse works with its utility customers on both planned capital programs and emergency restoration after storms and outages.

The combined company — led by Tank Parrish, chief executive officer of Key Line, and Jeff Zimmer, president of Palouse — employs more than 250 people and serves customers across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California and Utah.

“Utilities are investing to modernize and expand the grid, and they need contractors who can execute safely, reliably and at scale,” said Mr. Parrish. “Partnering with Gemspring and joining forces with Palouse gives us additional resources, geographic reach, and depth of talent to continue serving our customers, while carrying forward the culture and values that have always defined Key Line.”

“Key Line and Palouse are a natural fit,” said Mr. Zimmer. “Together, we can broaden the services and geographies we offer utility customers and create new opportunities for our people. We are excited to bring our teams together and continue building on the strong momentum both businesses have created.”

The two businesses operate in a corner of the construction industry tied to long-cycle utility spending. Electric utilities across the country are replacing aging poles, wires and substations, extending lines to serve new development, and hardening equipment against wildfires and storms. That work is being compounded by rising electricity demand from the electrification of vehicles and buildings and from the rapid construction of data centers, which is drawing more investment into the transmission and distribution networks that regional contractors such as Key Line and Palouse are hired to build and maintain. The market remains fragmented, with many small, locally focused contractors and few operators able to self-perform work at scale across several states.

Gemspring’s investment reflects a plan to build a larger platform by consolidating contractors in a market supported by long-term utility capital budgets.

“The critical utility infrastructure services market is large, fragmented, and supported by multi-decade secular tailwinds,” said Alex Shakibnia, a managing director at Gemspring. “Tank, Jeff, and their teams have built two outstanding businesses with a shared commitment to safety, quality, and their people. We’re proud to partner with them, and we look forward to supporting the combined team as they grow the platform and continue delivering for the utility customers and communities they serve.”

Gemspring invests in companies with revenues of up to $2 billion that operate in the business services, consumer services, financial and insurance services, healthcare, industrial, software, and tech-enabled services sectors. The firm has completed more than 125 acquisitions across its buyout and growth strategies.

In September 2025, Gemspring closed its second non-control investment vehicle, Gemspring Growth Solutions Fund II LP, with $1.1 billion in limited partner commitments. Gemspring was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Westport, Connecticut, with additional offices in Los Angeles, Charlotte, and Columbus.

Piper Sandler was the financial advisor to Gemspring on this transaction.

Truelink Capital has agreed to acquire JT Thorpe Group, a provider of specialty maintenance services that keep industrial furnaces, boilers, and other high-heat equipment running, from H.I.G. Capital.

JT Thorpe installs, repairs, and maintains the heat-resistant materials and protective systems that line the inside of industrial equipment operating at extreme temperatures. Its core work is refractory services — the specialized brick, castable, and ceramic linings that allow furnaces, boilers, kilns, and reactors to contain heat without failing — alongside fireproofing and insulation that protect structures and piping.

The company also provides asset integrity services such as scaffolding, access, and mechanical work that support the maintenance and turnaround of complex plants, making it a single source for the recurring upkeep that industrial facilities cannot safely defer.

Because the linings inside high-temperature equipment degrade with use, JT Thorpe’s services are consumed on a recurring basis through scheduled maintenance, emergency repairs, and periodic plant shutdowns known as turnarounds. The company operates through a family of businesses that includes JT Thorpe & Son, JT Thorpe Industrial, K&G Industrial Services, Brahma Group, ThorCan and Jayne Industries, and fields its crews from a network of more than 30 locations across North America.Customers of JT Thorpe are active in the power generation, semiconductor manufacturing, liquefied natural gas, mining, steel, cement, and other infrastructure and industrial end markets.

H.I.G. Capital acquired JT Thorpe Group (then Terra Millennium) in 2022 from Court Square Capital Partners which first invested in the company in 2016. Terra Millennium was formed in 1987 as a holding company for J.T. Thorpe & Son (JTT), one of the oldest refractory contractors in the United States. JTT was founded in 1906 in San Francisco to support the rebuilding efforts following the Great San Francisco Earthquake. In 2002, the costs of asbestos litigation forced Terra Millennium to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and create a trust fund to handle future asbestos claims.

Operating as JT Thorpe Group, the business expanded during H.I.G.’s ownership through add-on acquisitions, including entry into the Canadian refractory market with the purchase of ThorCan, the acquisition of Reftech International, and the 2024 additions of Thermal Solutions and Structsure Scaffold Solutions, which broadened its thermal and access-services capabilities.

Today, Salt Lake City-headquartered JT Thorpe is led by CEO Kevin Howard who is retaining a significant ownership stake in the company in partnership with Truelink Capital.

“We look forward to partnering with Truelink and continuing to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations,” said Mr. Howard. “Truelink’s operational focus and experience partnering with businesses in the infrastructure and industrial services space make them the right partner as we continue to invest in our people, our safety culture, and our ability to serve customers across North America. Our team has spent 120 years building this business, and I’m excited for Truelink to help us write its next chapter.”

“JT Thorpe has built a durable maintenance business anchored by long-standing customer relationships and recurring, mission-critical services,” said Luke Myers, a co-founder and managing partner at Truelink Capital. “JT Thorpe also sits at the intersection of strong growth tailwinds in infrastructure end markets right now, from LNG and semiconductor to data centers and power generation. We see significant opportunity to build on its existing foundation, both organically and through a pipeline of strategic M&A, and look forward to partnering with Kevin Howard and the entire JT Thorpe team.”

Industrial maintenance work of this kind rides on the same construction wave now reshaping American heavy industry. Spending on liquefied natural gas export terminals, semiconductor fabrication plants, data centers, and power generation is expanding the installed base of high-temperature equipment that must be lined, insulated, and periodically rebuilt. The global market for refractory materials is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of roughly 5.4 percent through 2030, according to Technavio, while the US thermal management market is forecast to approach $7 billion by 2035, according to Market Research Future. Because refractory linings and fireproofing wear out on a predictable schedule regardless of the economic cycle, demand for the maintenance and turnaround services that restore them tends to recur, and the field remains fragmented across regional specialists, leaving room for consolidation.

Truelink Capital is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm founded in 2022 by Todd Golditch and Luke Meyers, both former managing directors at Platinum Equity, that invests across the industrials and tech-enabled services sectors. In March 2026, the firm closed its oversubscribed Fund II at a $2.0 billion hard cap — above a $1.5 billion target and raised in under three months — more than double its $950 million Fund I.

The buy of JT Thorpe is the third platform investment for Truelink’s second fund and follows the acquisitions last month of Lyons Magnus, a formulator of specialty ingredients, beverage bases, and healthcare nutrition products for foodservice customers, from Paine Schwartz Partners; and Horwitz, a provider of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) services to commercial and industrial facilities, from Svoboda Capital Partners.

Goldman Sachs and Harris Williams are the financial advisors to JT Thorpe on this transaction.

The sale of JT Thorpe to Truelink is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2026.

Dominus Capital has completed an investment in Pelco Solutions, a manufacturer of traffic signal hardware and pedestrian safety products, acquiring the business from River Associates, which had acquired the business in March 2021.

Pelco makes the physical hardware and electronic equipment that cities and transportation agencies use to run intersections and protect people crossing the street. The company’s products include the poles, mast arms, and mounting brackets that hold up traffic signals and street lights; the pedestrian push buttons and audible crosswalk signals that let people request a walk light; and radar-based warning signs that flash to slow drivers down.

Customers of Pelco include state departments of transportation, municipalities, utilities, and the contractors that build and maintain roadway infrastructure. Pelco’s products are deployed across all 50 states, Canada, and other markets.

Pelco goes to market under five company-owned brands: Pelco Products supplies traffic signal hardware, utility products, and decorative outdoor lighting; TraffiCalm (acquired in 2022) is an Idaho-based maker of radar speed signs and other driver-warning systems; Novax (acquired in 2023) is a Canada-based provider of traffic management and pedestrian signaling systems; Component Products (acquired in 2024) is an Illinois-based supplier of poles, bases, and mounting hardware; and PedSafety (acquired in 2025) is an Idaho-based maker of pedestrian push buttons and crosswalk safety equipment.

Pelco was founded in 1985 by brothers Phil Parduhn and Steve Parduhn and is based in Edmond, Oklahoma, roughly 15 miles north of Oklahoma City. Paul Koenig, chief executive officer, leads the business and will remain a significant shareholder in the company in partnership with Dominus.

“The entire Pelco management team is incredibly proud of what we have built, but in many ways, we feel like we are just getting started,” said Mr. Koenig. “Our mission has always been to lead the traffic and pedestrian safety market through innovative technology, high-quality products, and exceptional service. Throughout our process, it was clear that Dominus shared our culture, values, and vision for Pelco’s growth, which made them the right partner for our next chapter. I also want to thank River Associates for their partnership over the past several years. Together with Dominus, we look forward to continuing to create safer streets and more efficient traffic systems for the communities we serve.”

Demand for traffic and pedestrian safety hardware is rising alongside public spending on roadway infrastructure and a national push to reverse a decade of rising pedestrian deaths, which reached roughly 7,300 in 2023. The US intelligent traffic management market was valued at about $3.4 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach roughly $11.4 billion by 2033, a compound annual growth rate near 15 percent, according to Grand View Research, while the broader road safety market is expanding at a rate above 16 percent, according to Market.us. Hardware accounts for the majority of spending, at roughly 55 percent of demand in 2024. Federal infrastructure funding, aging signal equipment due for replacement, and the adoption of connected and radar-based safety systems are the primary drivers, in a market served by many regional manufacturers where products are often specified individually into agency project designs.

“A core element of our investment strategy is partnering with market-leading businesses and supporting management’s execution of both organic and inorganic growth initiatives,” said Ashish Rughwani, a founding partner at Dominus Capital. “Pelco is a leader across the traffic, utility, and pedestrian safety markets, with a differentiated portfolio of products that are specified into project designs by agencies across the country, and a proven ability to grow through acquisition, having successfully integrated four complementary businesses in recent years. We are thrilled to partner with Paul and the entire Pelco team to support the company’s continued organic growth and active acquisition strategy.”

Founded in 2008 by Gary Binning, Robert Haswell, and Mr. Rughwani, New York City-based Dominus Capital makes control equity investments in North American-based middle-market companies that have EBITDA of at least $10 million. Sectors of interest include business services — outsourced services, specialty marketing, value-added distribution — and diversified industrials — aerospace and defense, automotive, building products, manufactured products, packaging, and specialty chemicals.

In April 2026, Dominus closed its fourth fund, Dominus Capital Partners IV LP, with more than $640 million in capital. The new fund exceeded its $500 million target and closed at its hard cap.

River Associates invests in United States and Canada-based companies with revenues of $15 million to $100 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $12 million. Sectors of interest include manufacturing, high-margin distribution, industrial services, and business services. River Associates was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Kroll Securities was the financial advisor to Pelco on this transaction.

Platinum Equity has acquired Tangent Technologies, a manufacturer of weatherproof lumber made from recycled plastic rather than wood, from The Sterling Group, which more than tripled the business during roughly eight years of ownership.

Tangent Technologies makes synthetic lumber by melting down recycled plastic and extruding it into boards, posts, and profiles that look and function like wood but resist rot, moisture, and insects and require little maintenance.

The company uses high-density polyethylene, the same plastic found in milk jugs and detergent bottles, drawn from both post-consumer waste and post-industrial scrap, giving it a lower-cost and more durable alternative to pressure-treated wood for anything exposed to the elements. Its boards are sold to manufacturers of outdoor furniture, to builders of parks and playgrounds and other public site amenities, and into structural and marine uses such as docks, boardwalks, and marina decking.

Tangent’s product lines span decorative and furniture-grade lumber for casual outdoor furniture, structural and semi-structural profiles engineered to bear loads in marine infrastructure and boardwalk projects, and HDPE sheet stock sold to fabricators, with distribution reaching customers across the United States. Because the boards are extruded from recycled feedstock, Tangent both diverts plastic from landfills and offers buyers a substitute for traditional building materials that has gained share on the strength of its durability, low maintenance, and appearance.

Tangent, led by CEO Kevin Potthoff, was founded in 2003 and manufactures from a large facility near Chicago in Aurora, Illinois, with a workforce of approximately 500. Following more than two decades in Aurora, the company is consolidating its U.S. and Canadian operations into a new 1.5 million-square-foot plant in nearby Montgomery, Illinois, backed by a $50 million investment under an Illinois state EDGE (Economic Development for a Growing Economy) incentive agreement.

The Sterling Group acquired Tangent in 2018. In 2019, Tangent added Home & Leisure, an Ontario-based extruder and fabricator of plastic-lumber furniture for the mass-market casual furniture industry, and Vinyl Tech, an Ohio-based distributor serving furniture and playground builders across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. In February 2020, Tangent acquired Bedford Technology, a Minnesota-based extruder of structural and semi-structural plastic lumber used in marine infrastructure, boardwalks, and fencing, from Hillcrest Capital Partners and founder Brian Larsen.

Under Sterling’s ownership, Tangent has more than tripled in size as a result of both organic growth and its add-on acquisition program.

Recycled and composite lumber sits within a fast-growing corner of the building products market as homeowners, municipalities, and marine operators trade wood for materials that last longer and demand less upkeep. The US composite railing and decking market was valued at roughly $1 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach about $2.9 billion by 2033, a compound annual growth rate near 11 percent, according to Grand View Research. The broader global market for plastic lumber is forecast to climb from about $6.3 billion to roughly $17.6 billion over the decade to 2033, a rate of about 10.8 percent, according to Market.us. Demand is being driven by the expansion of outdoor living spaces, sustained home renovation activity, and a consumer shift toward low-maintenance alternatives to pressure-treated wood, alongside growing municipal and marine use where moisture resistance is essential.

Houston-headquartered The Sterling Group is a private equity and private credit firm that invests in basic manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services companies with enterprise values from $100 million to $1 billion. Since its founding in 1982, the firm has invested in 78 platform companies and closed numerous add-on acquisitions representing more than $27 billion in total transaction value.

Platinum Equity invests in a range of industries including manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics, equipment rental, metals services, media and entertainment, technology and telecommunications. Beverly Hills-headquartered Platinum was formed in 1995 by Tom Gores and over the past 30 years has completed more than 500 acquisitions.

Moelis and Lincoln International were the financial advisors to Tangent on this transaction.

Trinity Hunt Partners has formed Steadpoint Industrial Services, a new industrial maintenance and repair platform, through an investment in Northline Industrial, a Michigan-based repairer of factory robots and other production equipment, marking the first institutional capital for the founder-owned business.

Northline Industrial fixes the machines that keep factories moving. When an industrial robot, a servo motor, a welding power supply, or a computer-controlled machine tool fails on a plant floor, Northline diagnoses the fault, replaces the failed parts, and returns the unit tested and warrantied — typically at a fraction of the cost of buying new.

Northline also sells remanufactured and new equipment when a repair is not worthwhile, and it dispatches technicians to customer sites for on-location troubleshooting through its field service group. Its customers are manufacturers and distributors, along with the maintenance and purchasing managers who keep their production lines running, across the automotive and general industrial base of the upper Midwest and Southeast.

Northline operates through five brands. Robot World Automation handles robotics repair, field service, programming, and complete rebuilds; Talentline Services places industrial labor through staffing and outsourced-workforce arrangements; Northline South, acquired in 2019 and based in Bowling Green, Kentucky, specializes in welding machines and weld-process equipment; McBroom Industrial Services, an Indianapolis operation acquired in 2020, adds precision spindle repair, machining, and AC/DC motor rebuilds; and Northline NC, out of Winston-Salem, extends the company’s electronics and robotics repair into the Southeast.

Northline is a factory-authorized repair center for Lincoln Electric and Miller welding equipment — along with ESAB, Victor, Fronius, OTC Daihen, Nasarc, and Tregaskiss — performs complete system testing including load-bank and live-weld testing, and includes a detailed service report with every repair.

Northline was co-founded in 2006 by Chuck Baase and its technicians average more than 19 years of repair experience. The company serves more than 375 customers a year across locations in Michigan, Indiana, and North Carolina. Northline is headquartered in Detroit.

“The people who have grown with Northline over the past 20 years are what make this business what it is,” said Mr. Baase. “We wanted a partner who not only understood our business, but who genuinely cared about the people who make it run. This is exactly what we found in Trinity Hunt Partners, and we are excited about what this partnership makes possible.”

To lead the platform’s next phase, Trinity Hunt has installed two executives with buy-and-build backgrounds. Courtney Pernat joins Steadpoint as chief financial officer. She was most recently CFO of Summit Companies, a fire and life-safety business assembled through dozens of acquisitions under a succession of private equity owners; during her tenure the company was held by BlackRock Long Term Private Capital, and she helped guide it through its 2025 sale to BDT & MSD Partners. Ross Morgan joins as chief development officer after heading the mergers-and-acquisitions function at Mariani Premier Group, a residential landscaping platform backed by CI Capital Partners. Both platforms trace to CI Capital’s buy-and-build playbook — the firm assembled Summit before its 2021 sale and acquired Mariani in 2020 — giving Steadpoint two executives versed in acquisition-led growth.

The market Steadpoint is entering is both large and stubbornly fragmented. The U.S. maintenance, repair, and operations market was worth roughly $93.2 billion in 2025 and is on track for about $94.7 billion in 2026, according to Mordor Intelligence, with industrial MRO the biggest slice at about 45 percent of the total. Growth is steady rather than dramatic — a compound annual rate in the low single digits through the early 2030s — but demand is durable, tied to industrial automation, aging equipment, and a rising premium on keeping plants reliable.

Fragmentation is the defining feature. The typical U.S. industrial facility buys MRO products and services from more than 120 separate vendors, and the supplier base is a patchwork of a few large distributors alongside thousands of small, regional repair and field-service shops. That structure is what makes the sector attractive to a buyer willing to consolidate it.

For Trinity Hunt, Northline offers a recurring, relationship-driven revenue base — plants that come back for the same repairs year after year — and a technical workforce that is hard to replicate. The firm intends to grow Steadpoint through both acquisitions and organic initiatives, layering a more institutional sales engine onto Northline’s relationship-based approach while it pursues repair-and-maintenance companies across the country. The platform fits Trinity Hunt’s long-running pattern of backing founder-owned services businesses and building them into national operators.

“Automation and advanced manufacturing are driving growing, consistent, and recurring demand for industrial MRO services, and we saw a clear opportunity to build a national platform in this space,” said Garrett Greer, a partner at Trinity Hunt Partners. “Northline has built a proven business anchored by mission-critical MRO capabilities, technical expertise, and an unwavering commitment to its people. That combination provides an exceptional foundation for the platform’s next phase of growth through this investment.”

Trinity Hunt invests from $15 million to $70 million of equity in founder- and family-owned companies that have revenues of at least $10 million and EBITDA of at least $2 million. Sectors of interest include business services, healthcare services, and consumer services. In February 2024, the firm held an oversubscribed closing of Trinity Hunt Partners VII LP at its hard cap, with $700 million of capital commitments.

Tinicum has acquired GracoRoberts, a distributor of specialty chemicals and composites used in the aerospace and defense industry, from CM Equity Partners.

GracoRoberts supplies the adhesives, sealants, coatings, composites, and other specialty chemicals that aircraft and defense manufacturers use to build and maintain their products. The company sells through an omnichannel model, combining an eCommerce operation with a technical sales team that helps customers select and apply the right materials.

GracoRoberts is certified to the aerospace industry’s AS and ISO quality standards and to the Department of Defense’s CMMC Level II cybersecurity standard, and it is authorized to distribute more than 50 specialty chemical brands, including 3M, AkzoNobel, Eastman, ExxonMobil, Henkel, Hexcel, Huntsman, Momentive, and Resin Formulators.

Beyond distribution, GracoRoberts runs a defense logistics and compliance program that manages the supply chain for military operations end to end, and it offers services such as custom kitting, labeling, repackaging, cold storage, and vendor-managed inventory.

The business is made up of parent GracoRoberts together with Silmid, SkyGeek, Pacific Coast Composites, and Sky Mart, and it operates an on-site, staffed chemical laboratory and testing facility. Arlington, Texas-headquartered GracoRoberts is led by chief executive officer Jason Caldwell.CM Equity acquired Graco Supply in September 2015 and has spent the past 11 years growing the business through a series of acquisitions that added California-based E.V. Roberts (May 2019) — the merger that produced the GracoRoberts name — UK-based Silmid (March 2021); New York-based SkyGeek (July 2022); Washington-based Pacific Coast Composites (May 2023); and Florida-based Sky Mart (January 2026).

“Tinicum shares our commitment to our people, our partners, and the long-term success of this business,” said Mr. Caldwell. “This partnership provides additional resources to invest in our team, strengthen our capabilities, and continue delivering exceptional value to the customer and supplier partners we serve. We are incredibly proud of what our employees have built over the past decade alongside financial partner CM Equity, and we are excited to build on that foundation in this next chapter of growth.”

“It has been a privilege to partner with the GracoRoberts management team over the past 11 years,” said Jeffrey Mark, a managing partner at CM Equity. “Working together, we executed a value creation strategy centered on strategic acquisitions, operational excellence, and sustained organic growth, transforming GracoRoberts into the market-leading company it is today. We are proud of what the team has accomplished and believe the company is exceptionally well positioned for continued success with Tinicum.”

“We greatly admire the business that the GracoRoberts team has built. It is distinguished by the team’s technical depth, unwavering commitment to customer service, and longstanding partnerships with the world’s leading material manufacturers,” said Erik Blumenkranz, a partner at Tinicum. “We intend to invest behind that foundation with a long-term mindset — in the people, the capabilities, and the platform,” added Roddy Cruz, a partner at Tinicum. “It is exactly the kind of durable, market-leading business we seek to partner with.”

The buy of GracoRoberts lands in a corner of the aerospace supply chain buoyed by rising defense budgets and a busy aftermarket. The US aerospace adhesives and sealants market was worth roughly $360 million in 2025 and is expected to grow at about 5.7% a year through 2035, according to Precedence Research, while global estimates for 2026 range between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion across research firms. North America accounts for more than 40% of volume, a lead that traces to sustained US military spending and the contractors and distributors that supply it. Demand is driven by the move to lightweight composite airframes, which rely on bonded rather than fastened joints, and by a maintenance, repair, and overhaul cycle that keeps specialty chemicals moving long after an aircraft is delivered. Distributors that pair technical support with compliance and logistics, as GracoRoberts does, sit at the center of that flow.For Tinicum, the appeal is a distributor with defensible characteristics: certifications and compliance standards that are difficult for new entrants to clear, deep technical relationships with both suppliers and aerospace customers, and a recurring aftermarket revenue base. The firm has signaled a long-hold approach rather than a quick flip, planning to invest behind the platform’s people and capabilities and to keep the management team in place with a meaningful equity stake. That continuity, paired with additional capital for acquisitions and internal investment, positions GracoRoberts to extend the buy-and-build strategy CM Equity began — consolidating a fragmented supply chain for specialty aerospace chemicals while deepening its position with blue-chip material manufacturers.

Tinicum invests from $50 million to $500 million of equity per transaction in companies that are active in the manufacturing, distribution, industrial technology and specialty infrastructure sectors. The firm invests in both private control transactions and minority positions in private and public companies.

Tinicum was founded in 1974 to manage the holdings of the Ruttenberg family and began managing outside capital in a traditional private equity fund structure in 1998. In 2012, the firm established Tinicum LP – a long-term investment vehicle with an indefinite life and multiple, successive commitment periods – and today manages more than $2.4 billion of committed capital from families and individuals. Tinicum is led by its managing partner Eric Ruttenberg and has offices in New York City, San Francisco, Houston and Frankfurt.

New York-headquartered CM Equity Partners (CMEP) makes either majority or minority investments in companies active in the federal services and aerospace and defense sectors. CMEP, founded in 1992 by Joel Jacks and Peter Schulte, is affiliated with Carl Marks & Co., a private family investment office with merchant banking activities dating to 1925.

Harris Williams was the financial advisor to GracoRoberts and CM Equity Partners.

Bluestone Investment Partners has acquired Delphinus Engineering, a Pennsylvania-based firm that repairs, modernizes, and extends the service life of U.S. Navy ships.

Delphinus’ engineers and waterfront crews maintain, repair, and modernize surface ships, aircraft carriers, and submarines; install upgraded combat and mechanical systems; and provide sustainment — the ongoing work of keeping equipment operational across a vessel’s decades-long service life. The customers are the U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense clients, along with companies across the maritime defense sector, which hire Delphinus as both a prime contractor and a teaming partner.

Beyond waterfront maintenance, the company designs and deploys cybersecure machinery control systems — the computerized networks that operate, monitor, and safeguard a ship’s propulsion, power, and auxiliary machinery. These systems let sailors run critical equipment from centralized consoles while guarding against cyber intrusion, a growing concern as naval platforms become more software dependent.

Delphinus is authorized by Naval Sea Systems Command, the Navy organization that engineers and maintains the fleet, to field the teams that install approved ship modernization work aboard active vessels. It is also qualified under the Navy’s SUBSAFE program, the rigorous safety-certification regime created after the 1963 loss of the USS Thresher.

Delphinus was founded in 1994 by Ranjit Das and employs roughly 700 people across facilities in Pennsylvania, Washington, Virginia, California, and Hawaii. As part of this transaction, Mr. Das will retire and longtime executive Roby Lentz, the company’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, will become its new chief executive officer.

“When I founded Delphinus, our mission was simple. Bring together good people who wanted to solve our customers’ problems and build a company they could be proud of,” said Mr. Das. “Watching the company grow into a trusted partner of the U.S. Navy has been the greatest privilege of my career. Roby has helped build Delphinus from its earliest days and embodies the values, culture, and commitment to our people and customers that have defined this company. I could not be more confident in the future of Delphinus.”

Bluestone’s investment pairs Delphinus with a firm that invests only in defense and government businesses, with a plan to build a naval maintenance, modernization, and sustainment platform through both organic growth and acquisitions.

“Delphinus has earned its reputation by solving some of the Navy’s most complex engineering and sustainment challenges,” said Mr. Lentz. “With Bluestone’s partnership, we have the opportunity to invest even more aggressively in our people, expand our technical capabilities, and pursue strategic acquisitions that strengthen Delphinus. As the Navy works to improve fleet readiness and the nation works to reindustrialize and strengthen its maritime industrial base, Delphinus will answer that call by expanding the maintenance, modernization, and sustainment capabilities essential to the readiness of the U.S. Navy.”

Bluestone’s investment tracks a national push to rebuild naval capacity. The U.S. naval-vessel maintenance, repair, and overhaul market was valued at roughly $16.7 billion in 2025, according to SNS Insider, and Navy ship-depot maintenance spending is projected to rise to about $14.3 billion in fiscal 2027 from $13.5 billion in fiscal 2026.

Demand in the sector is climbing as ships increasingly operate in contested waters, as older hulls require deeper and more frequent work, and as modernization cycles fold in new combat systems and sensors. The industrial base that does this work is concentrated and capacity-constrained, with public shipyards facing congestion and workforce shortages — conditions that favor private specialists able to add skilled labor and take on overflow.

“Delphinus sits at the center of one of our nation’s most important strategic priorities, the revitalization of America’s maritime industrial base,” said John Allen, a managing partner of Bluestone. “The company combines an exceptional culture, technical expertise, and customer relationships with an experienced leadership team. We are excited to support Delphinus’ next chapter through investment in organic growth and a disciplined acquisition strategy that expands capabilities across the naval maintenance and modernization ecosystem.”

Bluestone invests in lower-middle-market companies in the defense and government sector. The firm invests in buyouts, recapitalizations, growth investments, and co-investments in businesses supporting national security missions, and its principals have a long record owning, operating, and investing in the sector. Bluestone is headquartered in McLean, Virginia and was founded in 2010.

Piper Sandler was the financial advisor to Delphinus on this transaction.

Crest Rock Partners has made a growth investment in Andrew Site Work, a Florida-based contractor that builds and maintains the underground water, sewer, and drainage systems beneath Southwest Florida’s cities.

Andrew Site Work (ASW) installs, upgrades, and repairs the buried infrastructure that carries drinking water and wastewater for local governments and private clients. Its crews replace aging water mains and sewer lines, rehabilitate water and sewer treatment facilities, and handle drainage and other underground utility work for municipalities, counties, utility districts, and private organizations across the region. The company performs both routine maintenance and emergency repairs when a line fails.

The company also offers design-build and construction-manager-at-risk delivery, in which it takes responsibility for both designing and constructing a project under a single contract, along with engineering services. That combination lets a city hand off a complex replacement from drawing board to finished system without stitching together separate designers and builders.

Founded in 2008 by Ralph Andrew, the Fort Myers, Florida-headquartered company has grown alongside Southwest Florida’s rapid population growth and the steady replacement of its older infrastructure.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Crest Rock as we continue to grow our business after nearly two decades of operation,” said Mr. Andrew. “As a native of the Fort Myers region, I was first and foremost focused on finding a partner that shared my commitment to this community and the employees who built this business. After a number of discussions with Crest Rock, I found the team to be the perfect fit. Crest Rock’s experience in the infrastructure space, knowledge in scaling businesses, and operational capabilities will be instrumental for Andrew Site Work’s next stage of growth.”

Crest Rock will back ASW’s geographic expansion as well as the development of new utility service lines while also focusing on the company’s relationships with existing government partners and pursuing new business.

Crest Rock invested in ASW due to its operating record and technical service range. “ASW has built a reputation for reliability and excellence across Southwest Florida. The company’s technical capabilities and its commitment to delivering the highest quality work have allowed the business to thrive and earn the trust of its government partners,” said Andrew Carlin, a principal at Crest Rock. “We always look for businesses with strong operations, and the Andrew Site Work team has a great track record of seamlessly executing on projects ranging from emergency fixes to complex replacements. We’re excited to be partnering with them and to help guide the team on the next step of their growth journey.”

The market ASW serves is large and steady. Water and sewer line construction in the United States represents roughly $68.0 billion in revenue in 2026, according to IBISWorld. Demand is driven by the replacement of aging pipe networks, many laid generations ago, and by population growth across the Sun Belt that forces cities to extend and enlarge their systems.

The water and sewer line construction sector is highly local and fragmented, with municipal budgets and regulatory mandates setting the pace, which leaves room for well-run regional contractors to consolidate share and expand into neighboring counties.

Crest Rock is a Denver-based private equity firm founded in 2019 that targets control investments in the lower middle market. The firm invests across industrial services, manufacturing, IT services, tech-enabled business services, software, and technology, pursuing companies with enterprise values between $25 million and $200 million.

Tampa-headquartered Hyde Park Capital was the financial advisor to ASW. The firm’s transaction team included Managing Directors Luke Horanski and Matthew Gladdish.

AE Industrial Partners has acquired Powder Alloy Corporation, a manufacturer of specialty metallic, ceramic, and thermal spray powders used in aerospace and industrial applications, from its founder. The acquisition establishes a new specialty materials platform for AE Industrial.

Powder Alloy Corporation (PAC) produces specialty powders used in original equipment and aftermarket applications across the aerospace, gas turbine, biomedical, power and energy, and broader industrial markets. The company’s products include nickel superalloy powders, ceramic and metallic thermal spray powders, and custom blends manufactured to precise customer specifications.

The company’s powders are used in applications where performance, consistency, and reliability are critical. Products typically undergo years of testing and qualification before being approved for use in aircraft engines, gas turbines, and other high-temperature environments.

PAC manufactures its products in-house using specialized processes that form molten metal into fine powder (inert gas atomization), coat particles with other materials (composite cladding), combine powders into custom blends (mechanical blending), fuse smaller particles into larger ones (agglomeration and sintering) and increase their density and strength (plasma densification). These capabilities allow PAC to control the composition, shape, and performance of each powder. According to AE Industrial, the result is a proprietary product portfolio that is difficult to replicate.

PAC, led by President and founder Steve Payne, is headquartered near Cincinnati in Loveland, Ohio. The company has been founder-owned since its 1973 inception. AE Industrial is the company’s first institutional owner, and the transaction is the cornerstone of a new specialty materials platform for the firm.

“For more than 50 years, PAC has built its reputation on delivering specialized powders that meet the most demanding specifications throughout our end markets,” said Mr. Payne. “AE Industrial understands these markets and brings the resources and relationships to help us scale production capacity, invest in next-generation formulations, and serve the growing demand for PAC’s existing portfolio of specification-controlled products.”

Demand for engineered metal powders is expanding on the back of jet engine and industrial gas turbine production. The gas-atomized metal powder market was valued at $6.1 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow about 6.1% annually through 2032, according to Intel Market Research, while thermal spray powders specifically stood around $4.0 billion in 2025 and are forecast to reach $5.8 billion by 2033. Aerospace and defense accounted for roughly a third of atomizing-powder demand in 2024, with titanium and nickel superalloy volumes rising faster still.

For the United States, the story is as much about supply security as growth. Powders qualified to aerospace and turbine specifications take years to develop and are produced by a thin roster of domestic suppliers, leaving customers exposed to gaps for exactly the difficult-to-make materials their programs depend on. That scarcity is what AE Industrial is positioning its platform to address.

“PAC’s end markets run on materials that are extraordinarily difficult to produce — powders engineered to exacting specifications, qualified through years of rigorous testing, and proven in the most demanding applications on earth and in the air. PAC has built exactly that capability over more than 50 years, and the breadth of their proprietary portfolio is something that simply cannot be replicated,” said Bryan McElwee, a partner at AE Industrial. “This investment is the foundation of our newest specialty materials platform. Our vision is to build the preeminent independent provider of proprietary powders and materials — a platform purpose-built to address the critical supply chain gaps that exist today for unique, difficult-to-produce materials across PAC’s end markets.”

“As a differentiated strategic manufacturing partner, the investment in PAC reflects our firm’s philosophy of supporting companies that are addressing the critical tollgates for national and economic security,” added Andrew McElhinney, a principal at AE Industrial. “This acquisition launches our specialty materials platform, and we see meaningful growth opportunities through new product development, strategic partnerships, and complementary acquisitions.”

AE Industrial’s investment thesis, drawn from those remarks, is straightforward: a 50-year-old, hard-to-replicate portfolio of qualified powders sitting in a critical supply chain, acquired as a platform to be grown through new formulations, partnerships, and add-on acquisitions — a fit with AE Industrial’s focus on capabilities tied to national and economic security.

Monroe Capital (NASDAQ: MRCC) Monroe Capital was the sole lead arranger and administrative agent on a senior credit facility used to support the acquisition of Powder Alloy Corporation. Monroe provides senior and junior debt financing to middle-market businesses with at least $3 million of EBITDA, special situation borrowers, and private equity sponsors. Investment types include unitranche financings, cash flow, asset-based, and enterprise value-based loans, as well as equity co-investments. Sectors of interest include healthcare, business services, technology, consumer, and niche manufacturing. Monroe was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Chicago, with 10 additional offices throughout the United States and Asia.

AE Industrial is a Boca Raton, Florida-based private investment firm, with an additional office in Washington DC, that manages approximately $9.0 billion in assets as of March 31, 2026. The firm invests in technologies and services considered critical to national and economic security across national security, aerospace, and industrial services, deploying capital through private equity, venture capital, and aerospace leasing. AE Industrial has completed more than 155 investments since it began investing in 2015; the firm was founded in 1998.

Truelink Capital has acquired Lyons Magnus, a formulator of specialty ingredients, beverage bases, and healthcare nutrition products for foodservice customers, from Paine Schwartz Partners, marking the second platform investment for Truelink’s $2.0 billion Fund II.

Fresno, California-headquartered Lyons Magnus develops and manufactures a portfolio of ingredients and finished beverage and nutrition products for B2B customers that operate in the coffeehouse, quick-service restaurant, foodservice, and healthcare end-markets. The company’s catalog spans syrups and sauces, beverage bases and concentrates, smoothie and refresher bases, and specialty healthcare nutrition products.Lyons’ capabilities extend from product formulation and pilot production through full-scale commercialization, allowing customers to take a new product from concept to market through a single supplier. The company operates four manufacturing facilities and two distribution centers, providing the capacity and national reach to support large customers and growing demand in the foodservice beverage and nutrition markets.

Lyons Magnus traces its roots to 1852 and was acquired by the Smittcamp family in 1971. The Smittcamps moved the company from San Francisco to Fresno, where Bob Smittcamp led it for more than four decades. The family’s agribusiness roots began with a 200-acre peach farm purchased by Earl and Muriel Smittcamp shortly after World War II.

Paine Schwartz invested in the company in November 2017 and subsequently completed several add-on acquisitions: TRU Aseptics, Phillips Syrups & Sauces, and the operations and brands of Hormel Health Labs, which became part of the newly formed Lyons Health Labs.

Lyons Magnus is led by CEO Jim Davis. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Truelink as we enter this exciting next chapter for Lyons Magnus,” said Mr. Davis. “Truelink shares our commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and delivering best-in-class products to our customers. With their support and resources, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the significant momentum in our end markets and continue building on the strong foundation we have established over the past century.”

The specialty food ingredients category is large and steadily growing. The U.S. market generated roughly $14.5 billion in revenue in 2025 and is projected to reach about $20.4 billion by 2033, a compound annual rate near 4.2%, according to Grand View Research; other estimates size the U.S. market higher still, around $22.1 billion in 2025. Beverages account for the biggest share of demand, propelled by consumer appetite for functional and better-for-you drinks and by the continued shift toward away-from-home and clean-label consumption — the currents Truelink is buying into.

“Lyons is a well-established business with a market-leading position in the attractive and growing specialty ingredients category,” said Todd Golditch, a co-founder and managing partner at Truelink. “The company is well positioned to benefit from the increasing importance of beverage innovation in the away-from-home category and growing demand for healthcare and nutrition solutions, and our strategic intent will be to drive Lyons’ growth via both commercial organic initiatives and the execution of strategic M&A add-ons. We are excited to partner with CEO Jim Davis and the rest of the Lyons team to build on the company’s strong foundation and next phase of growth.”

Truelink Capital is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm founded in 2022 by Todd Golditch and Luke Myers, both former managing directors at Platinum Equity, that invests across the industrials and tech-enabled services sectors, pairing sector experience with an operationally focused, partnership-driven strategy. In March 2026, the firm closed its oversubscribed Fund II at a $2.0 billion hard cap — above a $1.5 billion target and raised in under three months — more than double its $950 million Fund I. Lyons Magnus is the second platform investment for Fund II.

Paine Schwartz makes control investments of $100 million to $300 million in companies with EBITDA from $10 million to $100 million. The firm makes investments in the food and agribusiness sectors, with a specific interest in productivity and sustainability. In September 2023, Paine Schwartz held a final close of its sixth fund, Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund VI LP, with an above-target $1.7 billion of capital commitments. Paine Schwartz was founded in 2006 by Dexter Paine and Kevin Schwartz and has offices in New York City and San Mateo, California.

Stifel was the financial advisor to Truelink Capital, and Evercore and William Blair were the financial advisors to Lyons Magnus.

Kinderhook Industries has acquired Pete & Pete Container Service and Boyas Recycling & Excavating, a vertically integrated collector, processor, and disposer of construction and demolition debris across Northeast Ohio, in partnership with the founding Ristagno family, marking the sixth platform investment for the firm’s $2.75 billion Fund 8.

Pete & Pete provides roll-off and front-load waste collection to construction, commercial, and municipal customers across the Cleveland market. The company’s containers sit at demolition and renovation jobsites, where mixed loads of concrete, brick, wood, and other construction and demolition (C&D) material are hauled away for processing.

Its large fleet of trucks and containers lets the company run efficient, closely spaced pickup routes across Greater Cleveland — a region that generates a heavy volume of construction and demolition debris.

Through Boyas Recycling & Excavating, a sister company to Pete & Pete, the company operates a material recovery facility (MRF) and a permitted C&D landfill, giving it control of the full chain from the jobsite through recovery to disposal.

Material collected in the field is sorted at the MRF, where marketable commodities are recovered and recycled; residual volume is buried at the company’s own landfill, which carries substantial remaining airspace. That internalized disposal capability — rare among regional haulers — lets the company capture margin at every step and shields it from third-party tipping fees.

Founded in 1997 and built over nearly three decades by the Ristagno family, Pete & Pete has earned a reputation for reliability across a dense and competitive market. Pete & Pete, led by CEO Pete Ristagno Jr., is headquartered roughly 10 miles southeast of Cleveland in Garfield Heights, Ohio.

Mr. Ristagno and his leadership team will remain with the company and continue to run day-to-day operations following the transaction. “Our family has spent decades building Pete & Pete and Boyas into businesses our customers and our community can count on,” he said. “We are proud of what our team has built and are excited to partner with Kinderhook to carry that legacy forward and accelerate our next phase of growth.”

Construction and demolition debris makes up a larger share of the US waste stream than any other single source. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 600 million tons are generated annually, equal to roughly one-quarter of all US waste. Concrete and asphalt account for the bulk of that volume, with recovery rates above 90%. Demand is tied directly to construction and demolition activity, with volumes driven by infrastructure spending, commercial redevelopment, and residential turnover.

The market for managing that material is both large and durable. Grand View Research valued the US C&D waste management market at approximately $8.8 billion in 2025 and projects annual growth of nearly 6% through 2030. Other estimates place the market at about $9 billion in 2023, increasing to nearly $19 billion by 2033. Stricter landfill-diversion requirements and limited permitted disposal capacity continue to favor operators that control their own disposal assets rather than paying third parties to take the material. That is the advantage Pete & Pete gains from its vertically integrated model.

“Pete & Pete and Boyas have demonstrated consistent, disciplined growth and built one of the strongest C&D platforms in the Midwest. The company’s vertically integrated model and internalized disposal give it a defensible position in an attractive market, and we are thrilled to build on that momentum alongside the Ristagno family and the management team,” said Rob Michalik, a managing director at Kinderhook.

New York City-headquartered Kinderhook Industries makes control investments in middle-market companies with defensible niche positioning across environmental and equipment services, healthcare services, and industrials and manufacturing. The firm typically pursues transactions valued between $25 million and $150 million. Kinderhook has raised more than $11 billion of committed capital and completed 500-plus investments and follow-on acquisitions since its founding, and closed its $2.75 billion Fund 8 in 2024. Pete & Pete is the sixth platform investment in that fund.

“We look forward to partnering with Pete and his team to support the company’s continued growth, expand its footprint across the region, and grow into new markets through strategic acquisitions,” added Cor Carruthers, a managing director at Kinderhook.

The buy-and-build path Mr. Carruthers describes fits Kinderhook’s history in the sector: a defensible regional platform with owned disposal, a founder team staying in place, and a fragmented surrounding market that lends itself to tuck-in acquisitions. Kinderhook’s investment in Pete & Pete is the company’s first institutional capital.

Comerica Securities was the financial advisor to Pete & Pete on this transaction.

Odyssey Investment Partners has made a majority investment in TransPak, a Silicon Valley provider of packaging engineering, crating, testing, and supply chain services for fragile and high-value equipment. This is the first institutional capital taken on by the Inch family, which has owned the business for generations.

TransPak designs and builds packaging, crating, and logistics programs for products that are complex, fragile, and difficult to ship, from semiconductor and data center hardware to aerospace, defense, and medical equipment. The company combines custom crate and container engineering, packaging design and testing, and coordinated global logistics so that sensitive equipment reaches its destination intact.

The company’s work centers on engineered protective packaging validated through testing, paired with logistics management that spans an international footprint across North America, Asia, and Europe. That combination has made TransPak a partner to many of the world’s technology and cloud infrastructure companies as they move high-value hardware between manufacturing sites, data centers, and customers.

TransPak was founded in 1952 and has spent more than seven decades helping customers transport hard-to-ship products, building a customer base weighted toward blue-chip technology accounts. TransPak, led by CEO Bert Inch, is headquartered in San Jose, California.

“Since 1952, TransPak has earned the trust of the world’s most innovative companies by solving their most complex packaging, logistics, and supply chain challenges,” said Mr. Inch. “As we move into our next chapter, we wanted a partner who recognizes the foundation we’ve built, understands our customers, and shares our long-term vision. We found that in Odyssey, with their deep industry knowledge combined with their track record of supporting and growing family businesses.”

The business has been owned by the Inch family for generations, most recently under Arlene Inch, former owner and chairwoman, and will continue to operate under Mr. Inch and the existing executive team following the majority investment by Odyssey. The transaction represents the company’s first institutional partnership in a history stretching back to 1952.

“Seeing what this team has built over the years is something I’m deeply proud of, and I’m excited for TransPak’s next chapter,” said Ms. Inch.

Now in partnership with Odyssey, TransPak plans to accelerate spending on its global operations, manufacturing capabilities, engineering expertise, and technology infrastructure, and to expand geographically as demand for AI infrastructure, advanced semiconductors, and high-performance computing grows. Odyssey pointed to the company’s exposure to those end markets and its record with family businesses as central to the deal.

“TransPak is an industry leader with specialized capabilities, deep blue-chip customer relationships and meaningful exposure to fast growing segments of the technology infrastructure landscape,” said Craig Staub, a senior managing principal at Odyssey. “The transaction builds on Odyssey’s decades of packaging industry experience and recent first-hand insights into the data center market, and we are excited to utilize our significant industry expertise and relationships to support the management team as they capitalize on a wide range of attractive growth opportunities.”

Protective packaging is being reshaped by the same data center and semiconductor demand that drives TransPak’s core accounts. The U.S. protective packaging market was valued at roughly $38.4 billion in 2026 and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of about 4.2%, according to Global Market Insights, with electronics shipments and anti-static cushioning cited as growth drivers. Demand for high-density semiconductor and advanced packaging tied to AI, high-performance computing, and networking is expanding at a faster clip, supporting specialized providers that move and protect fragile, high-value hardware.

Odyssey is a New York-based private equity firm founded in 1997 that makes majority-controlled investments in the industrial and business services sectors using a buy, build, and integrate approach. The firm targets companies with EBITDA of roughly $20 million to $100 million and enterprise values of about $100 million to $1 billion. Odyssey is investing out of its $3.25 billion sixth fund which closed in 2020.

“Bert and the TransPak team have built an incredible family-owned business with a unique reputation for best-in-class product design, reliability and service that has created a highly loyal customer base,” said Jonathan Place, a managing principal at Odyssey. “At the same time, TransPak has established an exceptional culture of excellence that drives team members to achieve exceptional outcomes for customers. We are very excited to partner with the entire team to create the next successful chapter in TransPak’s history.”

Stifel and BMO served as financial advisors to Odyssey. J.P. Morgan served as financial advisor and Accent Capital Partners as strategic advisor to TransPak.

Truelink Capital has acquired Horwitz, a provider of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) services to commercial and industrial facilities, from Svoboda Capital Partners.

Horwitz’s core offerings span service and maintenance, retrofits and upgrades, and new installations for HVAC systems, plumbing, electrical work, and building automation. The company’s customers, typically located across the Twin Cities and broader Midwest region, operate in the data center, medtech, semiconductor fabrication, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing sectors.

Horwitz, led by CEO Matt Dekkers and employing 720 people, was founded in 1918 and is headquartered near Minneapolis in New Hope, Minnesota.  Its management team will continue to lead the business and retain an ownership stake in partnership with Truelink. Mr. Dekkers, a construction industry veteran, joined the company in early 2023 and assumed the CEO role on January 1, 2024.

Svoboda Capital acquired Horwitz in March 2022 and, under its ownership, closed one add-on acquisition with the buy of Preferred Electric, a Minneapolis-based electrical contractor, in November 2024.

“Horwitz is an outstanding business with a strong leadership team and a clear focus on delivering high-quality outcomes for its customers,” said David Rubin, a managing director at Svoboda Capital. “It has been a privilege to work alongside management as the company evolved, and we are incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished.”

Truelink is headquartered in Los Angeles and invests in tech-enabled services and industrial companies with EBITDA ranging from $20 million to $75 million. The firm’s targeted service sectors include business-to-business, education technology, financial technology, information technology, and software. Truelink was founded in 2022 by Todd Golditch and Luke Myers, both former Platinum Equity investors.

Mr. Myers framed Horwitz as the anchor for a larger ambition. “We are excited to establish this partnership with the Horwitz team to execute Truelink’s value creation playbook of driving operational improvements and accelerating growth through strategic investments and a robust M&A strategy,” he said. “Horwitz’s differentiated service capabilities, scaled regional platform, and deeply experienced management team make it an ideal partner as we look to build a diversified MEP services business.”

Horwitz serves a large and expanding market. The U.S. MEP services market was valued at approximately $33 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to $35 billion in 2026, reaching roughly $47 billion by 2031, an annual growth rate of about 6.3%, according to Mordor Intelligence. Retrofit and renovation work accounted for the biggest share of 2025 revenue, and contractors have reported accelerating retrofit activity tied to federal energy-efficiency incentives, with heat-pump and energy-efficient HVAC retrofits up roughly 40% since 2024. Demand has also been shaped by healthcare facility expansions, semiconductor fabrication projects, and data center construction, end markets that overlap directly with Horwitz’s customer base.

For Truelink, the appeal is a scaled operator in those technically demanding end markets, paired with a recurring revenue base. Horwitz’s service and maintenance line adds a layer of stability to a platform otherwise exposed to project-based retrofit and new construction work, giving Truelink a foundation from which to pursue the diversified MEP business.

The firm has ample capital to do so. In March 2026, Truelink closed its second fund with $2 billion in capital, exceeding its $1.5 billion target and reaching its hard cap in under three months. The buy of Horwitz is Truelink’s 12th platform investment since the firm’s founding in 2022 and fits its strategy of pairing capital with operational improvement, pursued through an internal playbook and add-on acquisitions. Horwitz has its own history with that approach, including the acquisition of Tempco, a Twin Cities-based provider of building automation systems, in 2015 and the November 2024 acquisition of Preferred Electric — a pattern likely to continue under Truelink.

Mr. Dekkers welcomed the new backing. “Partnering with Truelink Capital marks an exciting new milestone for Horwitz,” he said. “Truelink shares our commitment to operational excellence and our vision for expanding the capabilities and reach of our platform. This partnership is a testament to the hard work of our entire team, and we look forward to leveraging Truelink’s resources and expertise to build on the strong foundation we have created.”

He also thanked the departing owner. “We are grateful for SC’s partnership and support over the past several years,” said Mr. Dekkers. “Their experience with services businesses and collaborative approach were instrumental in helping us scale the platform while reinforcing the culture and operational excellence that define our organization.”

Svoboda Capital invests $10 million to $25 million in professional services, industrial and commercial services, and transportation and logistics services companies with revenues from $10 million to $100 million and EBITDAs from $3 million to $15 million. The firm was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Chicago.

William Blair was the financial advisor to Horwitz and Svoboda Capital on this transaction.

Meaden & Moore, a Cleveland-based forensic and accounting firm, has taken on its first institutional investor with Unity Partners completing a growth investment in the company’s advisory business.

Meaden & Moore operates through two core practices. Its forensic accounting group serves insurance and legal clients with loss accounting, economic damages analysis, investigative work, litigation support, and cyber risk services. Its accounting and advisory group serves small and mid-sized businesses in the Midwest with tax, accounting, valuation, and other advisory work.

Founded in 1919 by Douglas Meaden and headquartered in Cleveland, the firm has grown to more than 250 professionals across 15 offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. Jim Rollins, its eighth chief executive since founding, leads the firm today.

“This partnership marks an important milestone in our organization’s history, as our collaboration with Unity will enable us to invest further in our people, expand key capabilities, and continue delivering the high-quality, objective insights that our clients rely on,” said Mr. Rollins. “Together, we are well-positioned to accelerate our growth strategy, capitalize on new opportunities, and thoughtfully scale in the years ahead. The partners here view us as stewards of a long legacy, and we believe this partnership with Unity best positions us to invest in the next generation and accelerate opportunities for our team.”

As part of Unity Partners’ investment, Meaden & Moore is restructuring its business. The firm’s CPA practice will remain a separate legal entity and continue providing audit and other assurance services, while a non-CPA entity will handle tax, forensic, advisory, and consulting services. This structure allows accounting firms to accept outside investment while maintaining the independence required for audit work. The deal with Unity marks the first time in Meaden & Moore’s more than 100-year history that the firm has taken on outside institutional capital.

“Meaden & Moore is an outstanding business that has demonstrated strong resilience and sustained growth across its service lines through multiple economic cycles and market environments,” said Peter Cozzi, who leads the investment team at Unity. “The company’s experienced leadership, combined with its complementary mix of highly specialized technical services, is a compelling point of differentiation for the business. We are excited to partner in advancing our shared vision for the company’s continued growth and success.”

Dallas-headquartered Unity Partners invests in fragmented, people-intensive services businesses, including finance, tax and accounting, insurance services, legal services, managed professional services, and several consumer-facing home services categories. The firm’s Partner & Propel strategy pairs its capital with an in-house team that works alongside portfolio company leadership on technology, talent, and operational initiatives, and the firm builds an employee ownership plan into every platform investment it makes.

With the close of the transaction with Unity, Meaden & Moore will also launch an Employee Purpose Plan, a model built into each of Unity’s platform investments that lets employees share in the firm’s financial outcomes and future capital events.

“Our employee Purpose plan will complement Meaden & Moore’s strong organizational culture and bolster their ability to attract and retain key talent,” said Jim Sharpe, partner and head of Propel at Unity. “As we prioritize value acceleration across critical operational areas, including technology and talent development, we are thrilled to be working together to help strengthen the business and advance its strategic growth objectives.”

Unity’s investment in Meaden & Moore lands amid a consolidation of the accounting profession. According to Cherry Bekaert’s 2025 Trends and 2026 Outlook, private equity investment in CPA and accounting firms accelerated through 2025, with more than 50 PE-related transactions completed in the segment and nearly half of the top 30 U.S. CPA firms now carrying some form of private equity investment or alternative practice structure. Just five years earlier, the report notes, such investment in the profession was almost nonexistent, and the pace is expected to continue through 2026 in the form of further platform consolidations, bolt-on acquisitions, and minority stake transactions.

Citizens Bank was the financial advisor to Meaden & Moore, and KeyBanc Capital Markets was the financial advisor to Unity.

Sentinel Capital Partners has acquired DecoPac, a supplier of cake decorating products and technology, from Kohlberg, marking the company’s second sale by a private equity owner over the past five years.

DecoPac supplies cake decorating products to bakeries, foodservice operators, and do-it-yourself decorators across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, serving more than 25,000 customer locations. Its product portfolio leans heavily on licensed properties from entertainment studios and professional sports leagues, developed in-house by the company’s design team and backed by a large intellectual-property portfolio.

DecoPac operates two technology platforms that complement its cake decorating products. CelebrationIQ handles online cake ordering and bakery management for commercial customers, while PhotoCake prints customized edible images directly onto baked goods. The company has also expanded its e-commerce operations to reach cake-decorating enthusiasts directly, a channel that has grown quickly in recent years.

DecoPac was formed in 1982 as an internal supplier to McGlynn’s Bakery, a family-owned chain founded in Minneapolis in 1919. McGlynn family members owned and operated the business until 2017, when Snow Phipps acquired DecoPac in partnership with the McGlynn family and existing management. Snow Phipps sold the company to Kohlberg in May 2021. Sentinel’s purchase from Kohlberg now marks DecoPac’s third institutional ownership change since the McGlynn family first brought in outside capital.

Today, the company is led by CEO Cindy Hampton and has approximately 650 employees and a headquarters near Minneapolis in Anoka, Minnesota.

“DecoPac is an exceptional business with a market-leading position, deep relationships with major retailers, and a proven track record of growth,” said Owen Basham, a partner at Sentinel. “We’re excited to partner with Cindy and the DecoPac team as they continue to innovate across the channels they serve.”

“Sentinel brings both the resources and strategic expertise to help us accelerate what we’ve already built,” said Ms. Hampton. “With their partnership, we’re well positioned to expand the range of desserts and formats we serve, bring more decoration options to our existing customers, and reach consumers through new and emerging channels, all while delivering on DecoPac’s mission to make every celebration more joyful.”

“DecoPac occupies an attractive position in a highly specialized category, with a strong management team and proprietary technology. We are pleased to have supported the company’s development and wish the DecoPac team continued success,” said Seth Hollander, a senior partner at Kohlberg.

The transaction lands against a steadily expanding backdrop for cake products generally. According to Grand View Research, the global cake market is projected to grow from $65.7 billion in 2023 to $80.4 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 3.0%, with customization and personalization cited as key drivers of that expansion—the same trend underlying DecoPac’s licensing strategy and its print-on-demand technology.

New York City-based Sentinel invests in midmarket companies across business services, consumer, healthcare services, and industrial sectors in the United States and Canada. The firm targets equity investments of $10 million to $75 million in businesses with enterprise values between $25 million and $250 million and EBITDA of $7 million to $65 million. Since its founding in 1995, Sentinel has raised more than $11 billion of capital.

Founded in 1987, Kohlberg is a middle-market private equity firm headquartered in Mount Kisco, New York. In 2018, Blackstone acquired a passive minority equity interest in the firm through its Strategic Capital Holdings Fund. Kohlberg’s most recent flagship fund, Kohlberg Investors X LP, closed in September 2024 with $4.3 billion of capital commitments. In addition, Kohlberg raised approximately $1.0 billion in commitments for a dedicated co-investment vehicle alongside Fund X.

Harris Williams and William Blair were the financial advisors to Kohlberg.

Avance Investment Management has made an investment in Lexxel, an infrastructure repair and maintenance platform, in partnership with the company’s founders Peter Tortorella and Michael Codi.

Lexxel repairs, restores, and maintains aging infrastructure and utility assets across New York and the broader Northeastern United States. The company operates as a single-source engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) provider, handling carbon-fiber and composite repair, concrete restoration, protective coatings and linings, and complementary engineering services for public and private infrastructure owners.

Lexxel, led by CEO Chuck Caranci, is headquartered near Albany at the Port of Coeymans, New York.

Mr. Tortorella and Mr. Codi founded Lexxel in 2023 pairing Mr. Tortorella’s three decades as an industrial distribution and service executive with Mr. Codi’s background in construction design and engineering. Since formation, the platform has expanded its capabilities through several acquisitions including these four: Composite Technology & Infrastructure, a New York-based fabrication and construction firm; Industrial Process Design, a New York-based provider of engineering services; Thin Film Technology, a Texas-based manufacturer of high-performance solvent-free underwater and moisture-tolerant epoxy coatings; and Cellectric Electrical, a New York-based electrical and civil contractor holding master electrical contracting licenses in multiple states.

In 2024, the platform added Kipper Industrial Piping, a New York-based specialist provider of mechanical systems and equipment management including plumbing, welding, pipefitting, and HVAC maintenance and replacement; Advanced FRP Systems, a Massachusetts-based provider of composite repair methods for industrial tanks and pipes; and Mechanical Epoxy Solutions, a New York-based provider of alternative rehabilitation solutions for pipes, tanks, and HVAC systems.

These seven add-ons expanded a platform that began with fabrication, construction, and engineering capabilities into advanced materials, industrial services, and power and utilities work.

The Avance investment marks the first outside institutional capital Lexxel has taken on since its founding. “This is an exciting next chapter for Lexxel,” said Mr. Tortorella. “Avance shares our vision for what this business can become, and together we see a significant opportunity to expand the Lexxel platform — including through additional acquisitions that bring complementary capabilities and talent.”

Avance has been pursuing an investment in the infrastructure repair and maintenance sector. “We have followed the aging-infrastructure opportunity for a long time,” said Carl Stanton, a senior advisor at Avance. “Decades of underinvestment, combined with powerful tailwinds supporting infrastructure and utility modernization, are driving sustained, long-term demand for the kind of mission-critical repair and maintenance services Lexxel provides. This is a thesis we have conviction in, and Lexxel is a terrific way to build behind it.”

Avance’s investment thesis perfectly aligns with trends in the broader infrastructure market. According to a September 2025 report by McKinsey – The Infrastructure Moment – it is estimated that failing to modernize aging U.S. infrastructure could cost the economy $10 trillion in lost GDP by 2039. At the same time, McKinsey’s global infrastructure research points to record private capital flows into the sector, with global infrastructure fundraising reaching nearly $200 billion in 2025—a dynamic that reflects both chronic underinvestment in existing assets and an accelerating pool of capital pursuing the repair, maintenance, and modernization work that underinvestment leaves behind.

Avance invests in founder-owned, middle-market businesses with $25 million to $250 million in revenue and EBITDA of $10 million to $75 million. Sectors of interest include business and technology services, infrastructure and commercial services, consumer products and services, and financial and insurance services. In September 2022, Avance held an above-target and final close of its inaugural fund, Avance Investment Partners LP, with total capital commitments of approximately $1.1 billion. Avance was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in New York City with an additional office in Miami.

“Lexxel keeps critical infrastructure running, backed by a deep bench of talent and an unwavering commitment to its customers,” said David Perez, a co-founder and managing partner at Avance. “We look forward to supporting the company and its founders as they continue to serve their home markets in the Northeast, and to bringing their same standard of quality and execution to new geographies over time.”

Lincoln International was the financial advisor to Avance on this transaction.