Freeman Spogli has acquired Galco Industrial Electronics, a distributor of industrial control components, from AEA Investors.
Galco’s product portfolio includes more than 3 million SKU’s of industrial control and automation components that are distributed to more than 64,000 US and international customers. The company’s products include components such as drives, relays, contactors, circuit breakers, and switches that are used in applications for controlled power, speed, velocity, torque, positioning, test and measurement and data acquisition.
Galco also provides both send-in and on-site repair services and other related engineering services. The company, led by CEO Mike Conwell, was founded in 1975 and is headquartered near Detroit in Madison Heights, Michigan. Mr. Conwell and the rest of the company’s management team will continue to lead and operate the business.
“We are delighted to partner with Freeman Spogli to support the company’s next phase of growth,” said Mr. Conwell. “Freeman Spogli’s expertise in developing value-added distribution companies will be immensely valuable as we pursue multiple expansion opportunities and strategic initiatives over the years to come.”
“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Galco,” said Jon Ralph, a partner at Freeman Spogli. “Mike Conwell and the rest of the Galco management team have done a terrific job of building the business through partnerships with vendors within both existing and new product categories as well as through strategic acquisitions.”
Freeman Spogli invests from $75 million to $300 million of capital per investment in North American-based middle-market consumer and distribution companies that are valued from $100 million to $750 million. Typical target companies will have EBITDA from $10 million to $75 million. Since founding in 1983, Freeman Spogli has invested over $4.8 billion in 64 portfolio companies with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $24 billion. The firm has offices in Los Angeles and New York City.
In September 2019, Freeman Spogli closed its latest fund, FS Equity Partners VIII LP (Fund VIII), at its hard cap of $1.85 billion. Fund VIII follows the firm’s earlier fund which closed in October 2014 with capital commitments of $1.3 billion.
Galco was acquired by AEA Investors in June 2014. The firm was founded in 1968 by the Rockefeller, Mellon, and Harriman family interests and S.G. Warburg & Co. as a private investment vehicle for a select group of industrial family offices. The firm, with 80 investment professionals, is headquartered in New York City with additional offices in Connecticut, London, Munich and Shanghai.
Madison Capital and BMO Harris provided debt financing to support the acquisition. BB&T Capital Markets was the financial advisor to Galco.
© 2020 Private Equity Professional | February 5, 2020
