HCI Completes Sale of Go To Logistics

May 17, 2021, Northlake, IL

HCI Equity Partners announced the sale of Go To Logistics (“Go To” or the “Company”) to Stellex Capital Management on May 4, 2021. Stellex Capital Management is a private equity firm that invests in middle-market companies in North America and Europe. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Headquartered outside of Chicago, Illinois, Go To Logistics is a transportation and logistics service provider focused on the freight consolidation and LTL (less-than-truckload) market. Go To provides services ranging from expedited and guaranteed service to warehoused consolidation, primarily from Chicago to the Northeast and West Coast, as well as the Southwest. The Company’s capacity-driven, point-to-point consolidation business model allows for exceptional service and expedited capabilities at a low cost. Go To has a diverse customer base with a heavy focus on the food and beverage sector.

“We are proud of the work we did with our partners Tom and Greg to build Go To into one of the leading transportation providers in its markets and channels. The HCI team is pleased with the outcome of our investment and think Stellex will be a great partner for the business going forward,” stated HCI Managing Partner Dan Dickinson.

G2 Capital Advisors served as the financial advisor and Jones Day served as legal counsel to Go To Logistics.

HCI Equity Partners is pleased to announce that Michael Allen has joined the firm as an Associate. Prior to joining HCI, Michael was an Associate at Adams Street Partners in the Private Credit group, executing debt and equity investments in middle-market companies across a variety of industries. Michael began his career as an Analyst at J.P. Morgan in the Corporate Client Banking and Leveraged Finance group.

Michael is a graduate of the Boston College’s Carroll School of Management where he doubled majored in Finance and Economics.

 

Greenville, SC, April 2021

Tech24, backed by HCI Equity Partners, announced today it acquired United Service Technologies (“United”) on April 13, 2021. Tech24 is a national provider of installation, preventative maintenance and emergency repair services for foodservice and HVAC equipment and serves convenience stores, restaurants, coffee shops and concession operations, among other foodservice establishments. United is the fourth add-on acquisition in HCI’s consolidation strategy in this market. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Headquartered outside of Anaheim, California, with additional locations in Texas and Nevada, United is a provider of repair and maintenance services for commercial food equipment, primarily serving the grocery market. The Company has been providing installation, planned maintenance and repairs to hot-side equipment in supermarkets for over 25 years. The acquisition provides Tech24 with geographic expansion, entrance to the attractive grocery store end market and new blue-chip customers.

“Today is a great day for Tech24. Adding a premier company like United to our team greatly strengthens our ability to service the grocery market segment. We look forward to sharing best practices with United and across all the Tech24 Companies to enable us to better service and satisfy our customers” said Tech24 CEO Dan Rodstrom.

Doug McCormick, HCI’s Managing Partner commented, “United provides access to an attractive customer set and new geographies and is consistent with our long-term strategy of providing our customers with a full-service capability from a national footprint. We are excited to welcome the United team to the combined organization.”

HCI Equity Partners remains committed to providing the consolidated Tech24 team with additional capital and support needed to continue its growth and develop best-in-class service capabilities.  If you are a food or commercial HVAC equipment service provider interested in partnering with HCI and Tech24, please contact Nate Novak at nnovak@hciequity.com.

Quarles and Brady served as legal counsel to Tech24.

About Tech24

Tech24 provides installation, preventative maintenance and repair for foodservice facilities across the US. The Company specializes in cooking, refrigeration, beverage and specialty foodservice equipment, as well as performs HVAC, electrical and plumbing services. For more information, please visit www.mytech24.com.

League City, TX, April 2021

HCI Equity Partners announced today the merger of CertifiedSafety, Inc. (“Certified”), and its subsidiary, Calculated Controls, and Onpoint Industrial Services (“Onpoint”), a portfolio company of The CapStreet Group. The combination of these companies establishes a premier provider of industrial safety, logistics and turnaround management services in North America.

CertifiedSafety, with its 20-year history in providing leading-edge safety solutions to the refining and petrochemical industries, combined with Calculated Controls’ exceptional project controls professionals, are a natural fit with Onpoint’s current scope of offerings.

“Bringing together these leading organizations expands our footprint across North America and creates one of the broadest ranges of safety, logistics, and turnaround management services in the industry today,” said Onpoint CEO Liz Crow. “Our combined best practices, deployed by our highly skilled field leadership, provide a single source of support for our customers in all aspects of their maintenance activities.”

The CapStreet Group and HCI Equity Partners will continue as shareholders in the combined entity. Liz Crow, CEO of Onpoint, will lead the united company as CEO on its continued journey. Tony Spencer, CEO of CertifiedSafety and Calculated Controls, will transition to an advisory role serving on the Board of Directors of the new company.

“This agreement uniquely positions us for sustainable, profitable growth while remaining focused on operational excellence,” said Spencer. “We’re so pleased to join forces with Onpoint, a well-respected company in the industry. And with our complementary industry leading services, we will be able to continue to support our customers with highest standards of quality, safety and service.”

 

About Onpoint Industrial Services

Onpoint Industrial Services, LLC offers a unique set of services designed to facilitate the safe and efficient flow of people, materials, and equipment for routine maintenance, turnarounds and capital projects. By applying people, process, and technology, Onpoint satisfies every logistics requirement of these complex activities. For more information, visit onpoint-us.com.

About CertifiedSafety

Based in League City, TX, CertifiedSafety provides cost-effective, scalable, and proven solutions to solve safety-related challenges for the petroleum and chemical industries. CertifiedSafety brings deep experience, industry-leading safety practices, highly qualified and trained personnel at every level, and safety leadership to drive up safety certainty and project success. For more information, visit www.certifiedsafety.net.

HCI is proud to announce that portfolio companies Summit Interconnect and MSI Express were both named to the Inc. 5000 Regionals list for 2021 by being one of the top 250 fastest growing companies in their region. Summit was ranked number 115 on the Inc. 5000 California list and MSI was ranked 165 on the Inc. 5000 Midwest list. Companies that made the list for the Midwest had median growth of 110% and California’s median was 137% between 2017 and 2019  —even while the broader US economy grew just 10%.

Summit Interconnect is a leading manufacturer of advanced technology printed circuit boards. Summit was founded with the intention of combining a full range of PCB manufacturing solutions with a strategic alignment towards defense primes and commercial customers in attractive end markets. Summit’s revenues grew 157% from 2017 to 2019.

MSI Express is a leading contract manufacturer and contract packager focused on shelf-stable foods. MSI’s core capabilities include dry mixing and blending, flexible pouches and sachets, liquid blending and filling, standcap pouching, canister filling, lidding, cup filling and pet food filling. MSI’s revenues grew 87.5% from 2017 to 2019.

Doug McCormick, Managing Partner at HCI commented, “We are extremely proud of our teams at Summit and MSI Express.  This kind of growth doesn’t happen by chance; it is a product of sound strategy and exceptional leadership combined with an ownership group prepared and willing to aggressively invest in the collective vision.”

Read more about HCI’s portfolio and strategy here and contact Kelsey Clute at kclute@hciequity.com if you have an investment opportunity for HCI.

Greenville, SC, March 2021

Tech24, backed by HCI Equity Partners, announced it acquired Alliance Mechanical Services, Inc. (“Alliance”) on March 1, 2021. Tech24 is a national provider of installation, preventative maintenance and emergency repair services for foodservice and HVAC equipment and serves convenience stores, restaurants, coffee shops and concession operations, among other foodservice establishments. Alliance is the third add-on acquisition in HCI’s consolidation strategy in this market. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Alliance Mechanical Services, based in Chicago, Illinois, is a provider of service, installation and maintenance for commercial HVAC and foodservice equipment.  The Company specializes in providing services for walk-in coolers and freezers, process chillers and cold rooms. The Company increases Tech24’s market share in Chicago, introduces new blue-chip customers and expands cold-side offerings.

“We are excited about adding Alliance to the Tech24 Team. Bob & Jeanine Wartan have built a great team and a successful business over the past 39 years. The addition of Alliance, along with our previous acquisitions, gives us a rapidly growing footprint that will enable us to better service our combined customer base” said Tech24 CEO Dan Rodstrom.

Doug McCormick, Managing Partner at HCI, stated, “Alliance represents a very complimentary geography and service capability for the Tech24 platform as we execute our strategy of becoming a nationwide, full-service foodservice equipment repair and installation business.  We are ecstatic Alliance has joined the team as our third acquisition since purchasing Tech24 in June 2020 and believe our success in consummating these acquisitions validates the quality of our approach, strategy and new team members.”

HCI Equity Partners remains committed to providing the consolidated Tech24 team with additional capital and support needed to accelerate growth and develop best-in-class service capabilities.  If you are a food or commercial HVAC equipment service provider interested in partnering with HCI and Tech24, please contact Nate Novak at nnovak@hciequity.com.

Quarles and Brady served as legal counsel to Tech24.

About Tech24

Tech24 provides installation, preventative maintenance and repair for foodservice facilities across the US. The Company specializes in cooking, refrigeration, beverage and specialty foodservice equipment, as well as performs HVAC, electrical and plumbing services. For more information, please visit www.mytech24.com.

HCI Equity Partners is proud to announce that it has been named one of 2021’s Top 50 Private Equity Firms by Grady Campbell. Founded in 2016, the Top 50 PE Firms in the Middle Market is the original awards program designed specifically to acknowledge and promote leading small and mid-sized private equity firms in the middle market. The list recognizes private equity firms that demonstrate excellent leadership, a strong track record and a trusted reputation with business owners.

HCI is a lower middle market private equity firm with approximately $1 billion in assets under management. We pursue control investments in family and founder owned manufacturing, service and distribution companies in North America, with over 90% of deals consummated with founders who re-invest alongside HCI to pursue a shared vision for growth and value creation.

Read more about our portfolio and strategy here and contact Kelsey Clute at kclute@hciequity.com if you have an investment opportunity for HCI.

Greenville, SC, January 2021

HCI Equity Partners’ consolidation platform, Tech24 announced it has acquired Eichenauer Services, Inc. and AIS Commercial Parts & Service in the fourth quarter of 2020. Tech24 is a national provider of installation, preventative maintenance and emergency repair services for foodservice and HVAC equipment and serves convenience stores, restaurants, coffee shops and concession operations, among other foodservice establishments. Eichenauer and AIS are the first two add-on acquisitions in HCI’s consolidation strategy in this market. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Eichenauer Services, headquartered in Decatur, Illinois, is a commercial kitchen equipment service provider and distributor of replacement kitchen equipment parts. AIS Commercial Part & Service, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a provider of repair and maintenance services to the food equipment and HVAC markets. These acquisitions expand Tech24’s geographic reach and increase its market share, while also offering meaningful long-term opportunity for growth and consolidation benefits.

HCI also complemented their expanding platform with additional senior leadership capabilities by hiring a new CEO and CFO to lead the combined business. Dan Rodstrom, CEO, joins the company after 15 years at EMCOR in various leadership positions. Sam Campbell, CFO, previously worked at Integrated Power Service as both SVP of Mergers and Acquisitions and VP of Finance and Corporate Controller.

“I am excited to leverage my years of experience in the commercial service industry to help grow the Tech24 platform.  We are committed to building a winning culture and team that provides the highest quality service to every customer, every time” said Tech24 CEO Dan Rodstrom.

Doug McCormick, Managing Partner at HCI, said “Tech24 represents a great example of HCI’s investment strategy in action. By combining big fragmented markets with exceptional leaders and supporting them with growth capital and M&A expertise, we can create significant value for investors, customers and employee team members alike.”

Bob Hund, Operating Partner at HCI and former President of Manitowoc Foodservice said “We’re pleased to welcome Dan and Sam to the team of professionals at Tech24. Their diverse experiences will enrich our capabilities to provide best-in-class service for individual operators through our larger, national accounts. We are also pleased to welcome AIS and Eichenauer – leaders in their respective territories – to our expanding service network.”

HCI Equity remains committed to providing the consolidated Tech24 team with additional capital and support needed to accelerate growth and develop best-in-class service capabilities.  If you are a food or commercial HVAC equipment service provider interested in partnering with HCI Equity and Tech24, please contact Nate Novak at nnovak@hciequity.com.

Quarles and Brady served as legal counsel to Tech24.

About Tech24

Tech24 provides installation, preventative maintenance and repair for foodservice facilities across the US. The Company specializes in cooking, refrigeration, beverage and specialty foodservice equipment, as well as performs HVAC, electrical and plumbing services. For more information, please visit www.mytech24.com.

El Segundo, CA, November 2020

Pacific Defense, backed by HCI Equity Partners and Emerald Lake Capital Management, announced it acquired Spear Research on October 22, 2020. The acquisition of Spear provides the Pacific Defense platform with an experienced and innovative team of engineers with core competencies in RF engineering, advanced signal processing, autonomous command and control and system integration. The Pacific Defense platform, including Spectranetix and Perceptronics, brings rapid adoption of best of breed capabilities into AI/ML enabled high-performance Radio Frequency based systems, and Spear is a key enabler to delivering full scale, low risk solutions to the DoD and select international customers. Spear is the third company to join the platform following HCI’s initial investment in Pacific Defense. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Nashua, New Hampshire, Spear Research is a technology company focused on electronic warfare, signals intelligence and autonomous networked sensor systems. The addition of Spear to the team also furthers Pacific Defense’s leadership role in the defense industry for advanced military open systems architecture standards including the Army’s C4ISR Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS) and the Air Force’s Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) specifications. Spear’s expertise in real-time digital signal processing will augment our CMOSS/SOSA systems with SIGINT/ELINT customer applications.

Travis Slocumb, CEO of Pacific Defense said, “Delivered system performance is critical for end-user adoption of our technologies. Spear’s expertise will help us ensure that our customers can port their applications and rapidly get the capabilities and performance they need to pace the growing and complex threat environment.”

Doug McCormick, HCI Managing Partner commented, “We are pleased to add Spear Research to the Pacific Defense team.  Their capabilities, customer relationships and culture align well with our strategy and accelerate our ability to offer our customer a compelling suite of solutions and products.”

About Pacific Defense

Pacific Defense designs, engineers and manufactures defense electronics products and solutions focused on providing open architecture systems to a variety of ground, sea and air military platforms to address constantly evolving warfare threats. For more information, please visit www.pacific-defense.com.

HCI Equity Partners is proud to announce we have been named to Inc.’s 2020 Top 50 Founder Friendly Private Equity Firms List. Inc. compiled the list by identifying firms that have invested in founder-led companies, gathered data on how their portfolios have grown and interviewed portfolio company management teams about their experiences with their private equity owners.

HCI is a lower middle market private equity firm with approximately $1 billion in assets under management. We pursue control investments in family and founder owned manufacturing, service and distribution companies in North America, with over 90% of deals consummated with founders who re-invest alongside HCI to pursue a shared vision for growth and value creation.

Dan Dickinson, HCI Managing Partner commented, “We are honored to receive this award as it reflects the significant investment in capabilities that HCI has made to support our strategy, partners and management teams to position them for outsized expansion through exceptional execution of their growth strategies.

Scott Milberg, CEO of AmerCareRoyal, was interviewed as part of the Inc.’s evaluation and commented, “HCI’s “business partner first” approach has allowed them to support us every step of the way during our partnership.  Supported by HCI’s strategy, M&A experience, operational support and deep expertise in distribution, AmerCareRoyal has grown at a compound annual rate of more than 50% for the past seven years, scaling from $36mm in revenues at the time they purchased the platform to approximately $540mm today. We could not have achieved that explosive growth without HCI’s guidance, expertise and support.”

Doug McCormick, HCI Managing Partner and AmerCareRoyal deal lead commented, “The AmerCareRoyal story is a great example of the power of our engagement model.  By combining HCI’s business model, acquisition and operation expertise with a great management team with tremendous knowledge and expertise in a large fragmented market, we disrupted their industry resulting in exponential growth, a better business that provides more value for our customers and more opportunities for our employees.”

HCI has acquired three add-on acquisitions and two platforms from founders in 2020. Read more about our portfolio and strategy here and contact Kelsey Clute at kclute@hciequity.com if you have a founder-led investment opportunity for HCI.