Acquisitions in Minnesota in 2015

Courion, an identity governance and administration (IGA) provider, acquired Core Security, a vulnerability management and attack intelligence company, to combine identity and vulnerability intelligence into an integrated Vulnerability and Risk Management (VRM) solution. The deal brings together Courion's IGA capabilities with Core Security's analytics-driven attack intelligence to provide customers a more comprehensive view of attack surface, detection and remediation.

Heartland Equity Partners has acquired a majority stake in Cass Screw Machine Products, a 70-year-old precision machining company based in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. The transaction enabled a retirement/ownership transition for the Greenwald family while supporting immediate expansion plans — Cass retained all 127 employees and began a 26,000 sq. ft. facility addition to expand machining and shipping capacity.

Industrial Inspection & Analysis, Inc. (IIA), a national industrial inspection and testing services provider headquartered in Atlanta, acquired The QC Group, Inc., which will operate under the legal name QC Group, LLC. The acquisition adds QC Group’s four laboratories and capabilities in contract dimensional inspection, reverse engineering and nondestructive testing (including access to IIA’s NADCAP- and DLA-certified Sunnyvale lab), positioning IIA to expand service breadth and capacity for customers across aerospace, defense and manufacturing end markets.

Northern Lights Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Pohlad Companies, purchased the Minnesota-focused local digital and broadcast news operation of BringMeTheNews, LLC in an asset sale advised by Cherry Tree & Associates. The transaction transfers BringMeTheNews' 24-hour digital news curation operation and related Minnesota assets — including its name and a 28‑station radio network reach — to Northern Lights, while BringMeTheNews' founder refocuses the remaining business under the name PresentNation for national digital news curation.

BlackHawk Industrial has acquired Packaging Incorporated, a packaging and fastening equipment and supplies distributor headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The acquisition expands BlackHawk's geographic footprint into additional Minnesota and Wisconsin markets and establishes a presence in Iowa; Packaging's commercial management will continue to lead the business within BlackHawk. Financial terms were not disclosed.

US LBM Holdings, LLC has acquired Lampert Lumber of St. Paul, Minnesota from fourth-generation owner Dan Fesler, who will remain as an advisor. The acquisition adds Lampert's 33 locations in the Upper Midwest to US LBM's multi-brand building products platform, supporting geographic expansion and continued investment in Lampert's operations.

Francisco Partners has agreed to recapitalize eSolutions, a Minneapolis-based provider of healthcare revenue cycle management SaaS and analytics. TripleTree advised eSolutions (and selling investor WestView Capital Partners) on the transaction, which is expected to close in Q1 2015 and will support eSolutions’ growth and expansion of analytics and payment enablement capabilities.