Industrial Opportunity Partners has acquired Royston, a maker of retail store fixtures, from Stephens Capital Partners which acquired the company in August 2007.
Royston is a designer, manufacturer and installer of check out and merchandising fixtures and equipment. The company’s products are used by convenience stores, grocery stores and other mass merchandisers and include checkout stands, customer service centers, prep and beverage counters, modular shelving systems, coffee and beverage islands, beverage tower systems, counters, kiosks, and fuel-island valets.
Additionally, through its field operations business, Royston provides customers with project management, site inspection and surveys, and installation services for program rollouts and store remodels. The company is headquartered in Jasper, GA (60 miles north of Atlanta) with two additional manufacturing facilities in Royston and Atlanta, GA (www.roystonllc.com).
IOP is partnering in its investment with Mark Kenline, Royston’s President and CEO, and the company’s management team, all of whom have ownership interests and will remain in their current leadership roles. In addition, Jim Todd, an IOP Operating Principal, will assume the position of Chairman. Mr. Todd is a member of IOP’s Board of Operating Principals which is comprised of executives who provide leadership to the businesses in which IOP invests.
“We are excited to partner with the Royston team. We believe that Royston is a differentiated business with longstanding customer relationships and an excellent reputation,” said Kyle Hood, a Director of IOP.
IOP focuses on acquiring middle-market manufacturing and value-added distribution businesses, typically with revenues between $30 million and $350 million. The firm targets businesses with strong product, customer, and market positions and provides both management and operational resources to support sales growth and operational improvements. IOP is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Evanston (www.iopfund.com).
Royston is the second platform investment for IOP’s third fund, Industrial Opportunity Partners III LP, which closed in July 2017 at its hard cap of $450 million.
Stephens Capital Partners, the seller of Royston, makes equity investments in profitable, cash-flow-producing businesses with above-average margins that have valuations of $50 million to $200 million. The firm is part of Stephens Inc., a Little Rock, AR-based privately held, independent financial services firm and one of the largest privately owned investment banks in the country (www.stephens.com).
Debt financing for this transaction was provided by a group led by Comerica Bank and including Stifel Bank and Associated Bank. Subordinated debt financing was provided by Norwest Mezzanine Partners.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | March 15, 2018