Sign-Zone, a portfolio company of Pfingsten Partners, has acquired Promic B.V., a designer and distributor of promotional displays.
Promic is a provider of mobile presentation systems including custom printed flags, pop-up and roll banners, counters, zipper walls, lighting, cases, and other display products.
The company, led by CSO Rick van den Wildenberg (founder) and CEO Jim Oud, is headquartered in Nederweert, Netherlands (www.promic.nl/en).
Sign-Zone is a maker of wide-format, portable promotional signage and displays that are sold under the Showdown Displays and Victory Corps brand names. Products include table covers, retractable banners, event tents, sail signs, and floor displays. The company sells its products to the education, healthcare, financial services and technology markets through a network of over 20,000 promotional products distributors, sign shops and printers. The company, led by CEO John Bruellman, has more than 650 employees worldwide and is based in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, MN (www.signzoneinc.com).
“We enthusiastically welcome Promic to the Sign-Zone family,” said Mr. Bruellman. “Promic has built a differentiated reputation as a leading, solutions-oriented supplier of displays and hardware systems. The combination of Promic and Jansen Display Group, which we acquired in October 2018, further strengthens our European team.”
The buy of Promic is Sign-Zone’s fourth add-on acquisition and follows the buys of Xarisma, a Huntsville, AL-based manufacturer of custom-printed, large format graphic signage and display accessories, in January 2019; the buy of Přestanov, Czech Republic-based Jansen Display Group, a designer and manufacturer of promotional display hardware and signage systems, in October 2018; and the earlier acquisition of Elizabeth, CO-based Creative Impact Graphics.
Pfingsten acquired Sign-Zone in May 2017 through its $382 million fifth fund which closed in March 2016. HarbourVest co-invested with Pfingsten on the acquisition of Sign-Zone.
Pfingsten invests in middle-market manufacturing, distribution and business services companies that have transaction values ranging from $15 million to $100 million, revenues from $20 million to $150 million, and EBITDA between $3 million and $12 million. Since completing its first investment in 1991, Pfingsten has acquired 136 such companies through five funds with total commitments of $1.3 billion. The firm is based in Chicago with representative offices in India and China (www.pfingsten.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | May 8, 2019