Industrial Growth Partners (IGP) has sold its portfolio company Controls Southeast, a provider of heating systems for industrial piping, to AMETEK for approximately $160 million. Industrial Growth Partners acquired Controls Southeast in June 2010.
Controls Southeast (CSI) provides bolt-on heating systems for piping, tanks, valves and instrumentation used in the oil refining, natural gas processing, petrochemical, and chemical industries. Other products and services include jacketed piping systems, system engineering and design, field consulting, and installation support. Controls Southeast has annual sales of approximately $50 million and is headquartered in Pineville, NC (www.csiheat.com).
During IGP’s ownership, the company increased its international revenue by a factor of five, strengthened its senior leadership team, more than doubled its direct sales force and global representative network, established production capabilities in the Middle East and launched several new proprietary products and services.
“IGP’s support of CSI as we transitioned from a family-owned business to an institutionally-backed enterprise was essential. They were an ideal partner as we went through the process of expanding aggressively overseas, particularly in the Middle East, and also in supporting new product initiatives,” said Fred Stubblefield, President of CSI. “Ultimately, these actions enabled us to further solidify our status as a global technology leader in our industry, accelerate expansion into underpenetrated market segments and geographies, and position the business to capitalize on the large, growing global market opportunity.”
Industrial Growth Partners provides equity capital to lower-middle market manufacturing and manufacturing services companies with revenues of $30 million to $100 million. The firm invests equity in a range of transactions involving a change of ownership, such as management buyouts, leveraged buyouts, corporate divestitures, recapitalizations and management buy-ins. The firm is based in San Francisco (www.igpequity.com).
AMETEK is a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electro-mechanical devices with headquarters in Berwyn, PA (near Philadelphia). The company has annual sales of approximately $3.5 billion and was founded in 1930 (www.ametek.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 8-13-13