industrial coatings

Huron Adds PoloPlaz to Valentus

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Valentus Specialty Chemicals, a portfolio company of Huron Capital, has acquired PoloPlaz, a maker of wood floor coatings.

PoloPlaz’ wood floor coatings are sold under the PoloPlaz brand name and are used in gymnasium and residential applications.  According to the company, the PoloPlaz brand name is well known in the gym sector and PoloPlaz products are used on most NBA floors and even the Olympic floors in Atlanta, GA and Athens, Greece. The company was founded in 1961 as the National Coatings Co. and changed its name to PoloPlaz in 2006. Unlike nearly all other finish companies – which purchase all or some of their products from contract or toll manufacturers – PoloPlaz products are all made in-house from proprietary formulations. The company is headquartered near Little Rock in Jacksonville, AR (www.poloplaz.com).

PoloPlaz was purchased by Mac Hogan in 1988 from the founding owner and he and co-owner Chad Baker will become Valentus shareholders and join Valentus’ management team.

Huron Capital launched Valentus in May 2014 in partnership with Ray Chlodney, John Ragazzini and Bob Taylor to pursue a buy-and-build strategy in the industrial coatings sector. The buy of PoloPlaz is the fourth add-on acquisition for Valentus under Huron ownership.

“Our firm has a long history of building sizeable specialty chemical platforms. With Valentus completing four acquisitions since December 2015, we believe Huron Capital’s ExecFactor buy-and-build model is working well under Ray’s leadership and building scale,” said Mike Beauregard, Senior Partner at Huron Capital. “In addition to pursuing more acquisitions, we will be working with Ray, Bob, and the Valentus team to pursue meaningful organic growth strategies as we look to further expand the Valentus platform.”

Valentus, headquartered near New York City in North Brunswick, NJ, closed its first investment in December 2015 with the acquisition of National Paint Industries, a manufacturer of specialty coatings used in residential and commercial flooring, industrial protective maintenance, pool, and marine applications. In April 2016, Valentus acquired the floor finishes business of Precision Technology and in August 2016 it acquired Absolute Coatings, the wood floor finishes business of Paint Over Rust Products.

“We think PoloPlaz is a great addition to Valentus,” said Mr. Chlodney. “PoloPlaz has built an excellent reputation in the wood floor coatings market and partnering with PoloPlaz will broaden our product offerings and expand our geographic reach.”

Huron Capital invests up to $70 million per transaction in middle market companies that have revenues up to $200 million and EBITDAs of $5 million or more. Sectors of interest include specialty manufacturing, business services, consumer goods & services, and healthcare. Huron was founded in 1999 and has offices in Detroit and Toronto (www.huroncapital.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | September 1, 2017

High Road Acquires Electra-Finish

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The Crown Group, a portfolio company of High Road Capital Partners, has completed the acquisition of Electra-Finish, a provider of plastic coating services. This transaction represents the first add-on acquisition The Crown Group has completed since its acquisition by High Road in May 2013.

Electra-Finish is a provider of plastic coating services to the automotive, agricultural, heavy truck and other industrial markets. The company specializes in decorative painting on interior plastic parts. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Asheboro, NC (www.electra-finish.com).

“The acquisition of Electra-Finish expands The Crown Group’s product offerings to include high-end plastic coating solutions. It is a perfect complement to the high-end metal coating solutions for which Crown is renowned,” said William Connell, Partner at High Road. “In addition to expanding Crown’s footprint in the southeastern United States, an area which continues to see growing automotive industry investment, Electra-Finish also expands Crown’s already impressive customer base.”

The Crown Group provides coatings for electrocoat, powder coat, and liquid applications to the automotive, agricultural, heavy truck and other industrial end markets. The company also provides assembly, warehousing, and sequencing services, as well as component finishing operations and inventory management. The Crown Group has facilities in the Michigan cities of Port Huron, Detroit and Shelby Township; Fort Wayne, IN; Portland, TN; Waterloo, IA; and Greenville, SC. The Crown Group was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Warren, MI (www.thecrowngrp.com).

William Connell, Partner, and Dan Gaspar, Principal, led the transaction for High Road. Also working on the transaction from High Road was Bill Hobbs.

High Road Capital Partners invests in manufacturing, service, or value-added distribution businesses with revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDAs of $3 million to $10 million. High Road was formed in 2007 and currently manages over $450 million of committed capital. High Road has completed 26 transactions, comprising 25 acquisitions – 11 platform investments, 14 add-on acquisitions – and two exits since its founding in 2007. The firm is based in New York (www.highroadcap.com).

Financing for this transaction was provided by US Bank, Comerica Bank, Johnson Bank and Babson Capital Management. Charter Oak Equity (www.charteroak-equity.com) and Babson Capital (www.BabsonCapital.com) also invested equity alongside High Road.

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-4-13

High Road Capital Partners Acquires The Crown Group

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High Road Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of The Crown Group, a provider of coating services to the automotive, agricultural, heavy truck and industrial markets. High Road partnered with Charter Oak Equity on the transaction.

The Crown Group provides coatings for electrocoat, powder coat, and liquid applications to the automotive, agricultural, heavy truck and other industrial end markets. The company also provides assembly, warehousing, and sequencing services, as well as component finishing operations and inventory management. The Crown Group has facilities in the Michigan cities of Port Huron, Detroit and Shelby Township; Fort Wayne, IN; Portland, TN; Waterloo, IA; and Greenville, SC. The Crown Group was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Warren, MI (www.thecrowngrp.com).

Frank Knoth, President of The Crown Group, will continue to lead the company post-closing. Mr. Knoth and other members of the company’s management team invested in the transaction alongside High Road and Charter Oak.

“Crown’s disciplined and systematic operational approach, including the ability to seamlessly integrate itself in its customer’s supply chain and provide value-added logistics services, is highly valued by its customers for whom avoiding business interruption or delays is paramount,” said William Connell, High Road Partner. “We are excited to work with Crown’s outstanding management team and Charter Oak to drive multiple growth initiatives.”

High Road Capital Partners invests in manufacturing, service, or value-added distribution businesses with revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDAs of $3 million to $10 million. High Road was formed in 2007 and currently manages over $335 million of committed capital. The firm is based in New York (www.highroadcap.com). William Connell, Partner, and Dan Gaspar, Vice President, led the transaction for High Road. Also working on the transaction from High Road were Bill Hobbs, Partner, and Paul Langley, Senior Associate.

Charter Oak Equity invests in niche manufacturing, packaging, medical products & services, specialty chemicals, consumer products and financial services companies ranging in size from start up to $150 million of enterprise value. Since founding in 1992, the firm has invested over $500 million in 27 portfolio companies and completed more than 50 acquisitions. Charter Oak is based in Westport, CT (www.charteroak-equity.com). Paul Roughan, Managing Partner, and Steve Noe, Principal worked on the transaction for Charter Oak.

Quarton Partners, an investment banking firm headquartered in Birmingham, MI (www.quartonpartners.com), acted as the exclusive financial advisor to The Crown Group in this transaction.

Financing for the transaction was provided by U.S. Bank and Babson Capital Management.

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-10-13

The Carlyle Group Acquires DuPont Performance Coatings

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The Carlyle Group has completed its acquisition of DuPont Performance Coatings, a supplier of coatings to the transportation and industrial sectors, for $4.9 billion and has renamed the acquired business Axalta Coating Systems.  Axalta Coating Systems will continue to do business as DuPont Performance Coatings for the next several months until the new name is formally launched in the second quarter of 2013.

Axalta Coating Systems develops, manufactures and sells coatings and application tools to automobile repair body shops and original equipment manufacturers in the automotive and heavy-duty truck markets. Brands include Standox®, Spies Hecker®, Cromax® and Imron®.  Axalta Coating Systems also serves the decorative, architectural, general industrial and job-coater segments of the powder coatings market under the brands Alesta® Powder Coatings, NAP-GARD® FBE Powder Coatings and ABCITE® Powder Coatings.  The company serves more than 120,000 customers in 130 countries.  Axalta Coating Systems’ beta website www.AxaltaCoatingSystems.com is under development.

“In addition to driving performance and excellence, one of our greatest strengths is the systems-based approach we take with our customers,” said John McCool, President of Axalta Coating Systems. “Along with coatings, we provide customers a full spectrum of tools and services to help them use our products effectively. We offer customers hands-on opportunities to learn how to use these products and applications tools in our 42 training centers throughout the world. This capability helps our customers improve their performance and productivity while allowing us to enhance our offerings by gaining a better understanding of customer preferences.”

The Carlyle Group invests in buyouts, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services and telecommunications & media. The Carlyle Group employs 1,300 people in 32 offices across six continents and is based in Washington, DC (www.carlyle.com).

The investment in Axalta Coating Systems was funded primarily with equity from Carlyle Partners V and Carlyle Europe Partners III.

“We are excited to invest in Axalta Coating Systems and believe its strong market position and global footprint will enable the company to capitalize on opportunities in rapidly emerging markets such as China and Brazil. As experienced investors in the industrial and transportation sectors, the One Carlyle global network can help Axalta Coating Systems grow and create value,” said Martin Sumner, Principal of The Carlyle Group.

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-4-13