Apollo Global Management has agreed to acquire Phoenix Services, a provider of industrial services to steel mills, from majority shareholder Olympus Partners. The buy of Phoenix will be made through Apollo Natural Resources Partners II LP.
Phoenix is a provider of outsourced slag handling, the recovery and sizing of scrap metal, and processing slag for use by steel mill customers or marketing processed slag material for aggregate use. Customers of Phoenix include ArcelorMittal, Nucor Steel, and US Steel, among others. Phoenix has a global workforce of approximately 2,100 employees and sixteen facilities in the US, nine in Europe, two in South Africa and one in Brazil. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered west of Philadelphia in Kennett Square, PA (www.phxslag.com).
Olympus took a majority stake in Phoenix in 2009 and grew the company by acquiring France’s Gagneraud Industries two years later. “Phoenix’s talented management team has done a great job of building and maintaining a culture of operational excellence during a time period of significant growth,” said Dave Cardenas, a Partner at Olympus. “It has been a pleasure to be involved with this investment and I look forward to following the company’s continued success under Apollo’s ownership.”
“We are excited to work with Phoenix Services and its outstanding management team and employees. We have been extremely impressed with the company’s customer focus, track record of operational excellence, and strong commitment to safety,” said Gareth Turner, a Senior Partner at Apollo. “We look forward to leveraging Apollo’s global platform and expertise to support Phoenix’s continued growth and superior customer service.”
Apollo (NYSE: APO) has total assets under management of $242 billion in private equity, credit and real estate funds invested across a core group of nine industries: chemicals; commodities; consumer & retail; distribution & transportation; financial & business services; manufacturing & industrial; media, cable & leisure; packaging & materials; and satellite & wireless. The firm has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, Bethesda, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai (www.agm.com).
Olympus, with $8.5 billion of total capital under management, provides equity capital for middle market management buyouts and for companies needing capital for expansion. Sectors of interest include business services, restaurants, consumer products, healthcare services, financial services, and packaging. The firm was founded in 1988 and is based in Stamford, CT (www.olympuspartners.com).
In addition to Dave Cardenas, the Olympus team included Partner Mike Horgan, Vice President Matt Boyd and Associate Bohdan Tyshynsky.
Goldman Sachs and William Blair were the financial advisors to Phoenix on this transaction.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | December 18, 2017