safety services

Littlejohn Acquires Total Safety

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Littlejohn & Co. has acquired a majority interest in Total Safety, a provider of safety and compliance products and services, from Warburg Pincus. Total Safety’s private equity heritage runs deep. The company was originally acquired by H.I.G. Capital in November 2003 and then sold to DLJ Merchant Banking Partners in December 2006. DLJ sold the business to Warburg Pincus in September 2011.

Total Safety’s products and services are used in a range of applications including gas detection, respiratory protection, safety training, fire protection, compliance and inspection, industrial hygiene, and onsite emergency medical treatment. Total Safety was formed December 1994, to serve the industrial safety needs of the oil and gas industry. Over the past decade, the company has transformed itself through internal growth and 25 acquisitions to become one of the leaders in the industry and today provides an array of industrial safety services in a variety of end markets. Total Safety operates from 150 locations in 21 countries and is headquartered in Houston (www.totalsafety.com).

Littlejohn makes control and non-control investments in middle-market companies that are undergoing a fundamental change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth.  The firm invests from $50 million to $150 million of equity in middle market companies that have annual revenues of $100 million to $800 million.  Littlejohn invests across a range of industries and acquires manufacturers, distributors, and service providers.  The firm is currently investing from Littlejohn Fund V, LP, which has $2 billion in capital commitments.  Littlejohn is based in Greenwich, CT (www.littlejohnllc.com).

Warburg Pincus has more than $40 billion in assets under management and has raised 15 private equity funds since its founding in 1966. In November 2015, the firm reached a final close of Warburg Pincus Private Equity XII, LP at the hard cap of $12 billion. Warburg Pincus is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore (www.warburgpincus.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | March 14, 2017

Riverside Adds-On to Alchemy

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The Riverside Company has completed the add-on acquisition of Chilton Consulting Group to its Alchemy Systems safety training platform. Alchemy Systems was acquired by Riverside in January 2013.

Chilton Consulting Group is a food safety and quality consulting services firm that helps customers develop, verify and implement systems to comply with industry standards to improve safety, quality, yield and productivity. The company is based south of Chattanooga, TN in Rocky Face, GA (www.chiltonconsulting.com).

“The addition of Chilton significantly enhances Alchemy’s service offerings,” said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “Chilton bolsters Alchemy’s offerings with significant subject matter expertise and expanded professional services offerings to complement Alchemy’s software and training solutions.”

Alchemy provides food and workplace safety training for production workers. Companies use Alchemy to increase productivity, reduce food safety incidents, and lower compliance risk. The company is located in Austin, TX (www.alchemysystems.com).

“Alchemy offers services that go beyond compliance to actively enhancing ROI for customers and Chilton enhances these capabilities,” said Riverside Partner Brian Sauer. “We’re excited about offering tools to improve productivity and profitability through Chilton’s proven expertise in assessment, analytics and benchmarking.”

Chilton is the second add-on acquisition completed by Alchemy Systems since being acquired by Riverside. In October 2013 the company acquired Catalyst Awareness (www.catalystawareness.com) located west of Toronto in Guelph, ON. Catalyst produces employee-awareness communications programs for retailers.

The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on investing in and acquiring growing businesses valued at up to $250 million (€200 million in Europe). Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 380 transactions. The firm’s international portfolio includes more than 75 companies. Riverside is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London (www.riversidecompany.com).

Working with Messrs. Schlachet and Sauer on the transaction for Riverside were Vice President Stephen Rice, Associate Tony Trevino, Operating Partner Rex Niles and Finance Director Jeff Elmer.

Wells Fargo provided the financing and Jones Day and Deloitte advised Riverside on the investment.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-11-15

Warburg Pincus Acquires Z-Safety Systems

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Total Safety, a provider of safety and compliance services and a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus, has acquired Z-Safety Systems (DBA Z-Monitoring) from Z-Group.  Warburg Pincus acquired Total Safety in 2011.

Z-Monitoring is the designer and engineer of the Z-Monitoring Centralized Confined Space Monitoring System – a safety system that monitors and communicates with confined space personnel. The Z-Monitoring system operates in real-time and continuously identifies workers within a confined space, maintains visual contact and a clear line of communication, monitors the atmosphere for toxic or dangerous gases, and sounds appropriate alarms if an incident occurs.

This is Total Safety’s second acquisition of a business from Z-Group. The first acquisition was of Z-Safety Services in 2011.  The remaining product lines of the Z-Group: Z-Staffing, Z-Matic, and Z-Tracker operations, are unaffected by this transaction.

Total Safety is a provider of safety and compliance services and the products necessary to support them, including gas detection, respiratory protection, safety training, fire protection, compliance and inspection, comprehensive flare services, industrial hygiene, onsite emergency medical treatment/paramedics, communications systems, engineered systems design, and materials management. The company operates from 148 locations in 20 countries and is headquartered in Houston (www.totalsafety.com).

“The Z-Monitoring system, field-tested more than 100 times during major facility maintenance turnarounds in Europe and the United States, has been an excellent addition to our integrated safety solutions portfolio,” said Total Safety Chief Executive Officer Troy Thacker. “We are pleased to incorporate the system and patent portfolio into our worldwide operations and, with their outstanding engineers on the Total Safety team, plan to continue our investment in innovative and comprehensive solutions that enhance safety for our customers’ workforces around the world.”

Warburg Pincus has more than $35 billion in assets under management and has raised 13 private equity funds which have invested more than $48 billion in approximately 700 companies in 35 countries. The firm was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Port Louis, Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai (www.warburgpincus.com).

2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-29-14