Blackstreet Capital Management has sold its portfolio company American Combustion to Timothy Kirlin, its Chief Executive Officer, and other members of the company’s management team.
American Combustion (ACI) is a mechanical engineering firm that installs and repairs boilers, chillers, HVAC units and other commercial mechanical systems. The company is headquartered northeast of Washington, DC in Brentwood, MD (www.aciindustries.com).
“My 10 year partnership with Blackstreet has been rewarding both financially and operationally,” said Tim Kirlin. “We jointly rescued this company from the prior owner and saved over 100 primarily union jobs in the DC area. During that time we turned a money losing operation into a growing enterprise and I look forward to the next 10 years as an independently owned business. I want to thank Blackstreet for giving me the opportunity and to thank them for what has been a great partnership for both of us.”
Blackstreet makes control equity investments of up to $15 million in companies that have revenues up to $150 million and total enterprise values up to $75 million. Target companies are located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeastern and Midwestern United States. Blackstreet is led by Murry Gunty, Founder and Managing Partner, and Lawrence Berger, Managing Director.
“It has been an honor to be partnered with Tim. From the first day when he approached me with the idea to purchase the company until the closing day of the sale, he has been a wonderful partner,” said Mr. Gunty. “I am pleased that we were able to rescue this company from likely liquidation, fix the operations, grow the sales, and position it for what I believe will be an amazing next 10 years under Tim’s ownership. I just want to thank Tim for being such a good partner.”
“Blackstreet can provide flexible capital for all types of situations,” said Mr. Berger. “We move exceptionally fast to understand and close transactions. In the case of ACI, we purchased the business three weeks from the time we were first notified of the company being available for sale.”
Blackstreet’s sectors of interest include niche manufacturing; catalogs and internet retail; consumer and industrial products; franchisors; value added distribution; specialty retail; education and training; healthcare services and devices; multi-unit restaurants; media and communications; and business services. The firm was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Chevy Chase, MD (www.blackstreetcapital.com).
© 2016 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-29-16
