Stellex Capital has completed its acquisition of Grammer Industries, a portfolio company of Linx Partners since October 2012, in partnership with the Whittington family and company management.
Grammer is a provider of transportation and logistics services for specialty and hazardous chemicals including anhydrous ammonia, liquefied petroleum gases, carbon dioxide, and nitric acid. The company’s services include transportation, transloading, terminaling, and handling of chemicals and hazardous materials. The company has more than 250 drivers and a fleet of more than 350 specialty tankers. Customers of Grammer include more than 120 industrial and agricultural customers that are active in fertilizer production, food production, power generation and chemical manufacturing.
Grammer was founded in 1968 by Charles “Shorty” Whittington in Grammer, IN as an over-the-road transporter of grain and dry fertilizer serving the agricultural industry in Southeast Indiana. Today, the company is headquartered in Columbus, IN and has 17 facilities located near major chemical production hubs across the United States (www.grammerindustries.com).
Grammer’s management team, led by CEO Bart Middleton and Vice President John Whittington (the son of the company’s founder), invested in the transaction alongside Stellex and will continue to lead the business. “With the support of Stellex, Grammer will accelerate the further expansion of our geographic footprint and enhance our ability to serve our customers through both organic growth initiatives and acquisitions,” said Mr. Whittington.
“This is an exciting inflection point in the evolution of the North American chemicals industry supply chain, and we look forward to making future investments in the Grammer platform,” said Michael Stewart, Managing Partner of Stellex. “Grammer is strongly positioned at the intersection of compelling trends in chemical production, logistics outsourcing and market consolidation.”
Stellex invests from $25 million to $100 million in United States or Europe-based companies with enterprise values from $50 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include automotive, aerospace, building products, defense, industrial equipment, metal fabrication and transportation. Stellex has offices in New York and London (www.stellexcapital.com).
Linx Partners, the seller of Grammer, invests from $5 million to $40 million of equity in lower middle market companies that have $20 million to $125 million of revenue and $6 million to $15 million of EBITDA. Typical transaction sizes range from $15 million to $120 million. Sectors of interest include transportation & logistics, manufacturing, and business services. Linx was founded in 1999 and is managed by its four partners – Babette Henagan, Peter Hicks, Mark Niznik, and Giny Mullins. The firm has offices in Atlanta, GA and Scarsdale, NY (www.linxpartners.com).
Debt financing for this transaction was provided by NewStar Financial, Bain Capital Credit and CIT Financial. Piper Jaffray & Co. was the financial advisor to Grammer and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal services to Stellex.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 3, 2018
