New Mountain Capital has acquired DRB Systems, a provider of technology-enabled devices and software products used in the car wash industry, from Prairie Capital.
DRB Systems provides point-of-sale and tunnel control software that is used by car wash operators to run their car wash, manage their daily performance, and grow their business. The company’s core product offerings include SiteWatch, a point-of-sale management system; TunnelWatch, an automated control system for conveyorized car washes; and Xpress Pay Terminal, an outdoor self-pay kiosk system. DRB also offers numerous related products and software modules.
Founded in 1984, DRB has developed relationships with thousands of operators – from single-site locations to large multi-site organizations – including eight of the top ten operators in the conveyor car wash space, as well as several of the largest participants in the in-bay automatic space. The company’s products have been installed in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada and users of its products and services have washed more than three billion cars. DRB is led by CEO Bill Morgenstern and is based in Akron, OH (www.drbsystems.com).
“DRB’s market leading position is the result of its high-quality solutions and the strong return on investment that the company delivers to its customers,” said Pete Masucci, Managing Director of New Mountain. “Bill and his management team have deep domain knowledge and industry-leading technology, and we look forward to partnering with them to further build the business and exceed customer expectations.”
New Mountain is an industry generalist and seeks to acquire just three or four companies each year, typically in the $100 million to $1 billion enterprise value range, and generally invests $100 million to $500 million per transaction. In September 2017, New Mountain Capital held an oversubscribed final close of its fifth private equity fund, New Mountain Partners V LP. The new fund closed at its hard cap with just over $6.1 billion of capital commitments. Since its founding in 1999, New Mountain has made private equity investments in 44 platform companies. The firm is headquartered in New York (www.newmountaincapital.com).
“DRB’s combination of a high-value solution and best-in-class customer support is a powerful offering,” said Jack Qian, a Director of New Mountain. “We are excited about the opportunities that this enables the team to pursue going forward.”
Prairie Capital acquired DRB in May 2014. “Prairie partnered with the founders and managers of DRB to build the company into an enterprise capable of capturing the accelerating demand for technology solutions in the car wash industry,” said Bryan Daniels, Founding Partner of Prairie Capital. “Our partnership has been fruitful and we believe DRB is well poised for many years of continued growth.”
Prairie Capital invests in lower middle market companies and corporate carve-outs. Typical investments will have annual revenues of $20 million to $100 million and cash flows of $4 million to $12 million. Sectors of interest include business services, industrial products and services, consumer products, education, financial services, and healthcare. Prairie Capital was founded in 1997 and is based in Chicago (www.prairie-capital.com).
BlackArch Partners (www.blackarchpartners.com) was the financial advisor to DRB and Prairie Capital.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 9, 2017