Capital Partners and Argosy Private Equity have sold Roll·Rite to SafeFleet, a portfolio company of Oak Hill Capital Partners. Roll·Rite was acquired by Capital Partners and Argosy in October 2011 from Copeley Capital.
Roll·Rite designs and manufactures automated and semi-automated tarp systems that are used in heavy-duty trucking applications – particularly in the construction, agriculture, waste and recycling markets – to protect payloads. The company’s Roll·Rite and Pulltarps branded systems are sold to fleets, distributors, truckbody and trailer manufacturers.
It is estimated that there are more than 150,000 trucks and trailers on the road today equipped with a Roll·Rite or Pulltarps systems. Roll·Rite acquired El Cajon, CA-based Pulltarps Manufacturing in February 2017. Roll·Rite, led by President Brad Templeman, is headquartered 65 miles northwest of Saginaw in Gladwin, MI (www.rollrite.com).
During Capital Partners and Argosy’s term of ownership, Roll·Rite completed two add-on acquisitions, opened several service & installation centers, and initiated lean manufacturing strategies. As a result, Roll-Rite more than doubled its revenue and EBITDA over the hold period, resulting in a meaningful increase in the value of the business at exit.
“Our investors support and their equity-rich investment structure involving only moderate debt and a distribution income enabling long-term ownership, empowered Roll·Rite to accelerate its strategic development during our seven-year partnership,” said Mr. Templeman. “Together, our accomplishments included a larger, more-efficient plant, implementing lean manufacturing, increasing our investment in engineering and product development, defending our intellectual property, opening an additional installation center, and completing two corporate acquisitions.”
The current management team of Roll·Rite will continue to lead the business going forward within Safe Fleet.
Oak Hill Capital Partners acquired SafeFleet in January 2018 from The Sterling Group. Safe Fleet was formed in October 2013 when Sterling acquired both R•O•M Corporation and Specialty Manufacturing from Century Park Capital Partners. Today, Safe Fleet provides a wide range of safety products for fleet vehicles in the emergency services, bus and rail, recreational vehicle, law enforcement, truck and trailer, work truck, industrial and military markets. The company has approximately 1,500 employees and 14 manufacturing locations. Safe Fleet, led by CEO John Knox, is headquartered south of Kansas City in Belton, MO (www.safefleet.net).
Capital Partners makes control investments in small and mid-sized family and management-owned companies that have EBITDA of $4 million to $25 million. Sectors of interest include manufacturing, services, distribution, consumer and food. Capital Partners was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Norwalk, CT (www.capitalpartners.com).
Argosy Private Equity invests from $5 million to $20 million in lower middle market companies that have revenues of $15 million to $100 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $9 million with EBITDA margins of 10% or greater. Sectors of interest include business services and manufacturing. Argosy Private Equity is a division of Argosy Capital Group, an investment adviser with $1.3 billion of assets under management. The firm was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in the Philadelphia suburb of Wayne, PA (www.argosycapital.com).
Oak Hill Capital Partners invests from $100 million to $300 million of equity in companies active in the consumer, retail & distribution; industrials; media & communications; and services sectors. The firm, which began its investment activities in 1986 as the family office of Robert M. Bass, has offices in New York, Menlo Park and Stamford, CT (www.oakhillcapital.com).
Cleary Gull was the financial adviser to Roll·Rite and its investors on this transaction.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | December 14, 2018