May River Capital has closed its second exit in the past month with the sale of GCM, a maker of metal, ceramic and plastic components, to Avista Capital Partners.
May River acquired GCM (then Hi-Tech Manufacturing) in July 2012 from Longview Capital Partners. In May 2014, Hi-Tech acquired GCM Medical and OEM, Inc. and rebranded the merged company under the name GCM.
Today, GCM is a manufacturer of low-to-medium volume, precision components and system assemblies used in medtech, aerospace, and industrial applications. The company’s medtech products are used in robotic-assisted surgery, radiotherapy, diagnostic technology, and other medical equipment.
GCM has a total of 280,000 square feet of manufacturing space in three facilities near San Francisco in Union City, CA; near Chicago in Schiller Park, IL; and near Hong Kong in Dongguan, China (www.gogcm.com).
Seamus Meagher, who has been with GCM for nearly two decades, will continue to serve as the company’s president under Avista ownership. “Our focus at GCM is to provide leading OEMs with unique manufacturing capabilities for critical products executed with superior supply-chain performance. We are very grateful to the May River team and are thrilled to be joining forces with our new partner Avista,” said Mr. Meagher.
“GCM represents a highly attractive opportunity to acquire a leading outsourced component manufacturer serving the growing MedTech industry, with deep customer relationships. We are excited to partner with Seamus and the entire GCM team as the company makes significant investments to further position itself for robust growth,” said Rob Girardi, a partner at Avista.
Avista, with over $6 billion of capital under management, makes control or influential minority investments in growth-oriented healthcare businesses with a specific interest in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, outsourced pharmaceutical services, distribution, and consumer-driven healthcare. The firm was founded in 2005 and is based in New York (www.avistacap.com).
“We are very proud that we were able to preserve and build upon the legacy of GCM’s founders, leading significant investments in human capital, systems and operational capacity during our ownership and positioning the company well for the next stage of its journey,” said Dan Barlow, a partner at May River Capital.
May River invests from $15 million to $40 million of equity in companies with enterprise values of $15 million to $75 million. Sectors of interest include precision manufacturing, engineered products, specialized industrial services, and value-added industrial distribution. May River was founded in February 2012 and closed its inaugural fund, May River Fund I LP, in March 2017 with total commitments of $170 million. The firm is based in Chicago (www.mayrivercapital.com).
Last month, May River sold Pride Engineering, a Minneapolis-based maker of tooling, equipment, and aftermarket parts used in the aluminum beverage packaging sector, to Arcline Investment Management. May River acquired Pride Engineering in March 2014.
William Blair & Company was the financial advisor to GCM and Paul Hastings provided legal services.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | September 3, 2019