Business Services

Pine Tree Acquires C&R Compliance

by

Crossbridge Compliance, a portfolio company of Pine Tree Equity, has acquired C&R Compliance.  This is the first add-on acquisition completed by Crossbridge Compliance since being acquired by Pine Tree in November 2014.

C&R is a regional provider of safety and training services required to meet safety regulations in the manufacturing and pulp and paper industries. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered northwest of Atlanta in Rome, GA (www.crcompliance.com).

Crossbridge Compliance is a provider of safety and training services such as auditing, consulting, and inspection that are required to meet safety regulations in the oil and gas pipeline and railcar industries. The company is headquartered east of Dallas in Longview, TX (www.crossbridgecompliance.com).

Pine Tree Equity invests in companies with revenues of $10 million to $50 million and EBITDAs of $2 million to $6 million. Sectors of interest include business, consumer and financial services; consumer products; franchisors and franchisees; and niche manufacturing.  The firm is based in Miami (www.pinetreeequity.com).

Pine Tree intends to continue pursuing add-on acquisitions of competitive and complementary safety and training businesses.

C&R marks Pine Tree Equity’s 9th investment in the industrial services industry and 28th investment since the firm was founded in 2007.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-9-15

Svoboda Capital Acquires Cogniserv

by

Databank IMX, a portfolio company of Svoboda Capital Partners, has acquired Cogniserv, a document scanning company.  The transaction is the fifth add-on acquisition for Databank since Svoboda first invested in the company in January 2011.

Cogniserv is a document scanning services company, focused on document imaging, workflow, data capture and enterprise content management. The company serves a variety of industries including state and local government, energy and healthcare.  Cogniserv was founded by Brian Rathe and Prabhu Karunakaran and is headquartered in Dallas with an additional office in Houston (cogniserv.com).

Post transaction, Mr. Rathe and Mr. Karunakaran will join the management team at Databank.  “Our team is very excited to join the DataBank family and we look forward to working together to combine and leverage our unique strengths across a larger organization,” said Mr. Rathe.  “Cogniserv customers will benefit from an expanded solution offering of business process automation services including digital mailroom and application process outsourcing.”

DataBank is a service provider of outsourced imaging and information services, including document scanning, indexing, physical and electronic document storage, and software to manage information. The company operates a network of BPO imaging production centers with locations in Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Indiana, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, California, Minnesota and Nebraska. Across this network, DataBank serves clients in several verticals, including Healthcare, Education, Oil/Gas, and Government sectors, and also provides Shared Services (accounts payable processing, HR/pension records) across various industries. DataBank is headquartered northeast of Washington, DC in Beltsville, MD (www.databankimx.com).

Svoboda Capital Partners invests from $10 million to $20 million in business services, value-added distribution, and consumer products companies that have revenues from $10 million to $100 million and EBITDAs from $3 million to $15 million. The firm was founded in 1998 and has over $300 million of capital under management.  Svoboda Capital is based in Chicago (www.svoco.com).

2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-18-14

Topspin Exits Hart Systems

by

Zebra Technologies Corporation has acquired Hart Systems, a provider of physical inventory management services and a portfolio company of Topspin Partners LBO, for approximately $94 million in cash. Topspin acquired Hart Systems in November 2008.

Hart Systems is a provider of inventory counting equipment and services to retailers, primarily in the US and Canada. The company owns a fleet of mobile scanning devices that its customers use to count store inventories. The company also provides the supporting infrastructure and various reporting capabilities as part of its service. Hart System’s customers include companies in a range of retail segments including apparel, grocery, consumer electronics, convenience and automotive. Hart Systems is based in Hauppauge, NY (www.hartsystems.com).

Topspin LBO makes control investments in profitable and established lower middle-market businesses. Sectors of interest include consumer products, business services, food & beverage, retail, media, niche manufacturing and security. The firm is based near New York City in Roslyn Heights, NY (www.topspinlbo.com).

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA) is a manufacturer of thermal bar code label and receipt printers, RFID smart label printer/encoders, card and kiosk printers. The company is headquartered near Chicago in Vernon Hills, IL (www.zebra.com).

“As the recognized leader in self-managed inventory solutions, Hart gives retailers better tools to optimize in-store inventories in an environment of increasingly complex global supply chains,” said Anders Gustafsson, Zebra’s chief executive officer. “It is an excellent strategic fit for Zebra. Hart’s solutions add high-value software and data analytics capabilities to Zebra, and increase our presence within the “Internet of Things” ecosystem. The business expands the portfolio of products, solutions and services Zebra provides to current customers, and gives us important relationships with new ones.”

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-20-13

Odyssey Completes One Call Care Management Exit

by

Odyssey Investment Partners has completed the previously announced sale of its portfolio company One Call Care Management to Apax Partners.

One Call is a provider of cost containment services to the workers’ compensation industry. Services include diagnostics, physical therapy, post-discharge and in-home care management, transportation, dental programs and other specialty services. In December 2009, Odyssey acquired One Call Medical which was merged with MSC Care Management in August 2012 to form One Call Care Management. The company is based in Jacksonville, FL (www.onecallcm.com).

“We set out to undertake a business transformation with One Call by expanding the service offering and building a scalable, high growth enterprise focused on delivering value for clients,” said Jeffrey McKibben, a Managing Principal at Odyssey. “We are extremely proud to have been a part of this chapter for the company and wish CEO Joe Delaney and the entire One Call team continued success under their new ownership.”

Odyssey Investment Partners is a middle-market private equity firm with more than $3 billion under management. Odyssey makes control investments primarily in established middle-market companies in a variety of industries, including industrial manufacturing; business, financial and healthcare services; aerospace products; and localized and route-based service businesses. The firm has offices in New York and Woodland Hills, CA (www.odysseyinvestment.com).

Apax Partners invests in the technology & telecom; retail & consumer; media; healthcare; and financial & business services sectors. The firm has offices in London and New York (www.apax.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-2-13

Kinderhook and Mansa Capital Acquire Wellness Corporation

by

E4 Health, a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries and Mansa Capital, has acquired Wellness Corporation. This is the third add-on acquisition completed by E4 Health since being acquired by Kinderhook in October 2011. Mansa Capital invested in E4 Health in February 2013.

“This is an exciting opportunity to bring together two companies that will complement each other to provide an exceptional platform to meet the growing demands of our customers and the market to bend the cost curve of healthcare,” said Chris Michalik, Managing Director at Kinderhook Industries.

Wellness Corporation is a provider of employee assistance programs and post-secondary education counseling and coaching. These services include employee assistance programs, student and graduate student assistance programs, organizational development services, professional development training, wellness and work/life programs. The company is headquartered in Shrewsbury, MA (www.wellnesscorp.com).

E4 Health is a provider of employee assistance programs (EAP) and behavioral health risk management programs. EAPs offer assistance to help employees cope with the stresses that stem from both their personal and work lives. EAPs provide assistance to employees experiencing a range of concerns including: depression, stress management, conflict resolution and substance abuse issues, as well as providing them with access to elder care resources, child care openings, legal resources, and wellness coaching. E4 Health was founded by EAP veterans Bill Mulcahy and Cindy Sheriff in partnership with Kinderhook Industries in October 2011. The company is based in Dallas (www.e4healthinc.com).

“Wellness is recognized as a leader in employee and student assistance and shares our commitment to quality outcomes,” said Bill Mulcahy, CEO of E4 Health. “In addition to strengthening our core EAP offerings, Wellness has strong relationships throughout the post-secondary education market that complement the services we offer through our subsidiary Student Resources. We look forward to collaborating with the team at Wellness to create an innovative solution that supports our goals for creating greater long-term value for our customers.”

Kinderhook Industries makes control investments in companies with transaction values of $10 million to $75 million in which the firm can achieve financial, operational and growth improvements. The firm pursues private equity investments in non-core divisions of public companies, management buyouts of entrepreneurial-owned businesses, troubled situations and existing small capitalization companies lacking institutional support. The firm, founded in 2003, has $770 million of committed capital and is based in New York (www.kinderhook.com).

Mansa Capital invests in companies active in the health care services and health care technology sectors that have enterprise values up to $150 million. Mansa focuses on companies as they prepare for expansion, acquisition, privatization or IPO. The firm has offices in Boston, Miami, and Dallas (www.mansaequity.com).

“The addition of Wellness Corporation, with its strong cultural values and long-standing reputation for superior EAP service, reinforces E4’s unique position as the market leading EAP provider. Wellness is a great addition to E4’s outcome based strategy,” said Ruben King-Shaw, Jr., Managing Director of Mansa Capital.

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-28-13

HKW Acquires Peterson Land Consulting

by

Contract Land Staff, a provider of land management and right-of-way consulting services and a portfolio company of Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company, has expanded into Canada with the acquisition of Peterson Land Consulting.

Peterson Land Consulting (PLC) specializes in land and right-of-way services for electrical generation, transmission and distribution acquisition, as well as for pipelines, substations, compressor stations and lease site projects. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Edmonton (www.petld.com).

Contract Land Staff (CLS) is a provider of a combination of land and property management services such as right-of-way acquisition, training, staffing, and land and real estate administration services. The company serves pipeline, utility, electric transmission, rail, public sector, solar and wind generation, and telecommunications clients nationwide. CLS was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Sugar Land, TX with regional offices in Austin, TX; Denver, CO; Lake Charles, LA; McMurray, PA; San Antonio, TX; Victoria, TX; Waterloo, IA; Westerville, OH; and Williston, ND (www.contractlandstaff.com).

“We are very pleased to announce this acquisition and partnership with PLC which further demonstrates CLS’s ongoing investment and commitment to the right-of-way Industry, and continues CLS’s growth internationally, enabling us to serve our international as well as domestic clients,” said Brent Leftwich, President and CEO. “We are excited to leverage PLC’s electric experience and paired with our extensive electric and pipeline experience, this will allow us to expand geographically, while continuing to provide quality services in the US and Canada.”

Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company invests in companies with revenues between $20 million and $200 million and EBITDAs between $2 million and $20 million. Over the past 29 years, HKW has completed 41 platform management buyouts of small middle-market companies throughout North America as well as 45 add-on acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Indianapolis with an additional office in New York (www.hkwinc.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-26-13