LINC Systems, a portfolio company of Center Rock Capital Partners, has acquired R.V. Evans Company, a distributor of industrial packaging and fastening systems.
R.V. Evans’ products include bagging, marking and coding equipment; shrink and stretch wrap equipment, and other specialized machinery and systems that are used in a range of industries including construction, housing, food & beverage, consumer products, automotive, and agriculture.
R.V. Evans is headquartered in Decatur, Illinois and serves customers in eleven Midwestern states from three additional facilities in Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Kansas City.
R.V. Evans was founded in 1937 by Richard V. Evans, Sr. and is currently led by his grandsons – Kelly Evans and T.C. Evans. Kelly’s father, R.V. Evans Jr., and T.C.’s father, Thomas Evans, ran the company until the third generation of the family took over and Kelly Evans became president in 1998.
LINC’s fastening products and industrial supplies are sold to a range of industrial end markets including pallet, furniture, housing, construction and general industrial. The company sells its products in more than 22 states and has distribution centers in Westfield, Indiana (headquarters) and High Point, North Carolina. LINC, led by CEO Ted Azar, was founded in 1995 and has approximately 100 employees.
The buy of RV Evans diversifies LINC’s business across customers and end markets, as well as geographically with the combined businesses now serving customers in 30 US states.
“Kelly and TC have built a great company with incredible resources and we are excited to join forces,” said Mr. Azar. “RV Evans’ and LINC’s business models are highly complementary, and this combination will position our companies for future growth. Both organizations have a rich and respected history in this business and are committed to providing customers with exceptional service, selection and product knowledge. We couldn’t be more excited to have RV Evans join the growing LINC platform.”
Center Rock invested in LINC in September 2018 out of its inaugural fund, Center Rock Capital Partners Fund I LP, which closed earlier in 2018 with an oversubscribed $580 million of limited partner capital.
“RV Evans and LINC are a great combination that advances our strategic vision of building a leading, nationwide industrial fastener and packaging distribution platform,” said Arun Laxmanan, a principal at Center Rock. “We are excited to work with the combined management teams to fuel the companies’ continued growth through extraordinary service and expertise.”
With the buy of RV Evans, LINC has now closed three add-on acquisitions under Center Rock ownership including the earlier buys of Packaging Systems Design, an Ohio-based distributor of industrial packaging equipment and packaging products, specializing in end-of-line automatic packaging equipment, in September 2018; and Dealer Services, a division of BlackHawk Industrial Distribution, a Snow Phipps portfolio company and a distributor of fasteners and packing supplies serving lumberyards and construction dealers, earlier this month.
Center Rock makes control and non-control equity investments in North American-based industrial manufacturing, industrial services and industrial distribution companies that have revenues of $25 million to $500 million and EBITDA of up to $50 million (including negative EBITDA). Center Rock was founded in August 2017 and has offices in Chicago and in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills.
© 2020 Private Equity Professional | February 12, 2020
