steel service center

Validor Acquires BICO Steel

by

Validor Capital has acquired BICO Steel, a steel service center that processes heavy carbon steel plate and forged specialty alloy steel. All the members of the BICO senior management team invested alongside Validor in the transaction.

BICO’s heavy carbon steel plate and forged specialty alloy steel are used in products in the molding, process equipment, stamping, and capital equipment industries. BICO’s customers serve a diverse group of end markets including aerospace, automotive, canning, paper conversion, consumer goods, building products, and oil and gas.

BICO (formerly The Burger Iron Company) was founded in 1896 and has operations in Akron, OH and Grand Rapids, MI (www.bicosteel.com).

Validor Capital makes control investments of up to $20 million in privately held US-based small to middle-market manufacturing, industrial, and business services companies. Typical target companies will have revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA of up to $10 million. Validor is led by its Managing Partner Matthew Kaufman and is based in Boca Raton (www.validorcap.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 17, 2018

Freestone Partners Exits Sunbelt Steel

by

Sunbelt Steel Texas, a portfolio company of Freestone Partners and a distributor of specialty alloy steel bar and heavy-wall tubing products, has been sold to Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.  Sunbelt will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Steel and Aluminum. Current management will remain in place with Michael Kowalski continuing as President of Sunbelt.

Sunbelt is a value added distributors of specialty alloy steel bar and heavy-wall tubing products to the oil and gas industry. Sunbelt was founded in 1986 and is based in Houston with additional locations in Salt Lake City, UT; Dallas, TX and Alberta, Canada (www.sunbeltsteel.com).

Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS) is one of the largest metals service center companies in North America. The company provides value-added metals processing services and distributes a full line of over 100,000 metal products to more than 125,000 customers in a range of industries. Reliance Steel & Aluminum has a network of more than 220 locations in 38 states and Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, the UAE and the United Kingdom and is headquartered in Los Angeles (www.rsac.com).

“We are excited to add Sunbelt Steel Texas to the Reliance Family of Companies. Sunbelt increases our growing exposure to the energy market in high end, niche products serving customers across multiple oil and gas well drilling types, including vertical, horizontal, directional, and deepwater drilling applications,” said David Hannah, Chairman and CEO of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. “Sunbelt’s in-house processing services include deep hole drilling, straightening, and saw cutting with the ability to manufacture heavy-wall tubing from solid bar. We look forward to continuing Sunbelt’s growing presence in their specialty markets.”

Quarton Partners acted as the exclusive advisor to Sunbelt Steel and Freestone. Quarton Partners is a specialty investment banking firm serving privately held and publicly traded companies as well as private equity firms. Quarton assists its clients with mergers and acquisitions, private capital raising, restructurings, valuations, and other financial advisory services. The firm’s principals have successfully completed hundreds of engagements in a wide variety of industries across the US and throughout the world. Quarton Partners is a division of Leonard & Company, Michigan’s largest independent broker/dealer. The firm is headquartered in Birmingham, MI (www.quartonpartners.com).

© 2012 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-3-12