Blue Point Capital Partners has acquired VRC Holdings, a maker of rubber, plastic and sealing components, from Corporate Group.
VRC designs and manufactures a variety of products including seals, wiring grommets, tubing and molded thermoplastics that are used in the aerospace & defense, automotive, industrial, oil & gas, marine and medical end markets.
VRC operates through three subsidiaries: Ritus (based in Milwaukee) and its sister companies Vanseal (based near St. Louis in Vandalia, IL) and Classic Molding (based near Chicago in Schiller Park, IL). VRC was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Milwaukee (www.ritus.com) (www.vansealcorp.com) (www.classic-molding.com).
“I am confident that our partnership with Blue Point will offer VRC both the capital and management expertise to help sustain our recent success and support our future growth initiatives, particularly in developing enhanced technical development capabilities, a stronger commercial presence and in pursuing acquisition opportunities in our fragmented industry space,” said Tom Gebhardt, the president of VRC.
“We are impressed with the quality and capacity of VRC’s current asset base and believe the company operates in an attractive niche of the industrial rubber and plastic component markets. We are grateful to have the opportunity to partner with Bill and Tom Gebhardt and support VRC in the next stage of its growth and evolution,” said John LeMay, a partner with Blue Point.
The buy of VRC is the fifth platform investment for Blue Point’s fourth fund, Blue Point Capital Partners IV LP, which closed at its hard cap of $700 million in January 2018. Blue Point invests in companies that are active in the manufacturing, distribution and business services sectors and have from $20 million to $300 million in revenue and EBITDA greater than $5 million. The firm has offices in Cleveland, Charlotte, Seattle, and Shanghai (www.bluepointcapital.com).
Blue Point has invested in the elastomeric components market before through Quality Synthetic Rubber (QSR), a Twinsburg, OH-based maker of molded silicon rubber components used by electrical connector suppliers in the automotive, medical, transportation and industrial markets. Blue Point acquired QSR in July 2007 and sold the company in July 2012 to Lexington Precision, then a portfolio company of Industrial Growth Partners.
“Over the last five decades, VRC has continually looked for ways to expand its platform and add value for their customers. Blue Point has partnered with over 25 custom material manufacturers over the years and is positioned to support management in identifying the most attractive paths for growth and building additional internal capabilities to execute against the core growth strategies,” said Jonathan Pressnell, a principal with Blue Point.
Corporate Group, the seller of VRC, is a Milwaukee-based private equity firm that invests from $2 million to $20 million in US-based companies that have annual revenues up to $50 million and are active in engineered products and value-added construction services (www.corporategroupinc.com).
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | August 20, 2019
