Acquisitions in Missouri in 2019

Partners Group agreed to acquire a majority stake in EyeCare Partners from FFL Partners, marking a PE-to-PE buyout of the U.S. ophthalmology and optometry services platform. EyeCare Partners is a vertically integrated network of optometry and ophthalmology practices headquartered in St. Louis that grew rapidly under FFL (reported 65% CAGR and several hundred sites) — financial terms were reported by market sources at roughly $2.2 billion.

Tilia Holdings has acquired Trilogy Warehouse Partners, a St. Louis-based provider of cold storage and multi-temperature warehousing services, effective December 6, 2019. The acquisition expands Tilia’s cold-chain and warehousing footprint in the Midwest and complements its existing portfolio companies (Refrig-It and Universal Pure) to provide broader geographic coverage and service capabilities.

Platte River Equity has made a significant investment in GME Supply Co, a Columbia, Missouri–based distributor of fall protection, safety equipment and related gear for at‑height workers, in partnership with founder and CEO Beau Aero. Platte River invested from its fourth fund to support GME's continued growth across telecommunications, wind, solar, industrial and construction end markets; BMO Capital Markets provided financing for the transaction.

Midwest & Bluegrass Rail (MBR), a holding company focused on regional and short-line rail assets, has acquired Tomken Transportation from the Smith family. The purchase — driven in part by MBR's interest in the site's rail spur and real estate — involved environmental remediation and complex tax and financing structuring; MBR plans to grow the business and expand its network of freight and logistics holdings.

Farragut Capital Partners led a growth investment in Particle Dynamics, Inc., joined by BroadOak Capital Partners; Particle Dynamics is a portfolio company of Edgewater Capital Partners. The capital will support the company's growth and capability expansion across its particle processing, microencapsulation and finished-dosage manufacturing services operating from FDA‑inspected facilities in St. Louis, Missouri and Seymour, Indiana.

Tailwind Capital has acquired Banner Solutions from High Road Capital Partners; the sale closed on October 31, 2019. Banner Solutions, a Kansas City, Missouri-based wholesale distributor of door hardware, electronic access control and security products, was owned by High Road since 2017 and grew through multiple add-ons under its ownership.

Industrial Growth Partners V, L.P. (IGP), in partnership with management and certain outside investors, has acquired ASPEQ Heating Group LLC, a St. Louis-based manufacturer of custom-configured electric heating and thermal management products. IGP intends to use the transaction as a platform investment to accelerate ASPEQ's growth by enhancing its go-to-market strategy and product portfolio, expanding end-market reach, and pursuing add-on acquisitions.

BV Investment Partners, a Boston-based middle-market private equity firm, has acquired EDCO Health Information Solutions, a St. Louis–based provider of automated unstructured data indexing software for healthcare providers. BV will partner with EDCO's executive team to expand and enhance the company's Solarity platform, which uses NLP and a patented recognition engine to transform unstructured clinical data for EHR systems.

Nautic Partners, together with Spartech management, has completed the acquisition of Spartech, a Maryland Heights, Missouri-based manufacturer of engineered acrylics, extruded plastics and thermoformed packaging, from Arsenal Capital Partners. Nautic said it will partner with the long‑tenured Spartech management team to invest in new products, expand capabilities and pursue selective add‑on acquisitions to grow the business.

Westport, Connecticut-based Sterling Investment Partners made a majority equity investment in HeartLand, LLC, a Kansas City-based commercial landscape management platform, in partnership with HeartLand management. The transaction represents Great Range Capital’s sale of its portfolio company after building HeartLand through multiple regional acquisitions; Sterling will partner with management to support continued growth across the Midwest and Mountain West.

Sterling Investment Partners has made a majority equity investment in HeartLand, a commercial landscape and facilities services platform headquartered in Kansas City. The partnership with founder Edward Schatz Jr. and management will support HeartLand’s plans to scale and expand its geographic reach across the Central United States; terms were not disclosed.

Chicago-based private equity firm Sheridan Capital Partners made a growth investment in Oral Surgery Partners, a Greater St. Louis–based oral surgery practice management platform. Sheridan invested alongside OSP's surgeons and management (who retained meaningful ownership); Twin Brook Capital Partners provided debt financing for the transaction.

V&A Capital has acquired Federal Steel Supply (FSS) from its founders in a majority buyout. V&A intends to support FSS’s growth by expanding its geographic footprint, broadening product offerings, entering new end-markets and pursuing complementary add-on acquisitions.

Dunes Point Capital has acquired a controlling interest in Vanguard Packaging, which includes Vanguard Packaging, Inc., Advanced Logistics & Fulfillment, LLC, and Great Plains Packaging, Inc. Vanguard is a Kansas City–based designer and manufacturer of high-graphic corrugated displays, retail-ready and industrial packaging, and provides related assembly, logistics and fulfillment services; the company employs approximately 200 people. Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Twin Brook Capital Partners and Churchill Asset Management.

N.W.O. I.T. Services, a St. Louis–based managed IT provider, has acquired PenTech Computer Company, an IT services firm founded in 1984. The acquisition expands N.W.O.'s local capabilities and ability to deliver managed IT, helpdesk and cloud services to customers across the greater St. Louis area.

Diversified Search, a ShoreView portfolio company, has acquired Grant Cooper and Associates, a St. Louis–based retained executive search firm specializing in healthcare. The deal expands Diversified Search's capabilities in academic healthcare and represents an add-on acquisition to the ShoreView-backed platform.

BriteCore, a cloud-native core software provider for property & casualty insurers, received $47.5 million of growth capital led by Warburg Pincus with participation from existing investors Radian Capital and WCF Mutual Insurance Company. The funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand the team of insurance industry experts, and support customer growth.

CentralReach, a provider of EHR and practice management solutions for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) clinicians, has acquired Pathfinder Health Innovations, a practice management and data-collection software provider serving SMB ABA practices. The Pathfinder platform will remain alongside CentralReach's enterprise solution with the Pathfinder team staying in Kansas City and CEO Tina Youngblood joining CentralReach's leadership reporting to CEO Chris Sullens.

Brightstar Capital Partners formed InfraServ US, LLC and, in partnership with Gateway Bobcat's founder and management, acquired Gateway Bobcat, a St. Louis-based Bobcat and Doosan equipment dealer with parts, service and rental operations across multiple Midwest and Southern states. The transaction establishes InfraServ US as an industrial equipment dealership and services platform to consolidate a fragmented industry and drive growth.

Industrial Opportunity Partners (IOP), an Evanston, Illinois-based private equity firm, has acquired United Poly Systems LLC, a manufacturer of made-to-order HDPE pressure and duct/conduit pipe headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. IOP is partnering with the company's founders and management team to expand production capacity and product offerings; terms were not disclosed.

Olympus Partners has acquired the Land Animal Protein division of 3D Corporate Solutions in a partnership with 3D's founders and senior management. The division manufactures premium protein ingredients (chicken, beef and lamb) for premium pet food manufacturers; Olympus will provide capital and support to pursue expansion opportunities.

Zips Car Wash acquired three store locations from Blue Iguana Car Wash in Kentucky and Indiana, adding two sites in Louisville, KY and one in Clarksville, IN. The deal expands Zips' footprint in the Louisville area and marks the company's first operation in Indiana, bringing Blue Iguana's local team into Zips' operations.

The Hilb Group, a Richmond-based, Abry Partners-backed insurance brokerage, acquired The Keane Insurance Group of St. Louis effective May 1, 2019. The deal expands THG's national footprint into Missouri and adds The Keane Insurance Group's medical professional liability expertise; John Keane and KIG's associates will join THG and continue operating out of their St. Louis office.

ImageFIRST, backed by Calera Capital, acquired a majority stake in Faultless Healthcare Linen; terms were not disclosed. The deal expands ImageFIRST's national footprint in healthcare linen rental and laundry services—Faultless will retain equity held by the Spence family and operate alongside ImageFIRST's existing locations.

Great Plains Communications, a Grain Management portfolio company, has acquired InterCarrier Networks, a regional fiber-optic carrier headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. The deal adds roughly 2,037 route miles of fiber across Illinois, Indiana, the St. Louis metro and Kentucky to Great Plains’ network; financial terms were not disclosed and the transaction closed in August 2019.

Gridiron Capital has acquired Colibri Group, a St. Louis–headquartered provider of online learning solutions for licensed professionals, from Quad-C Management. Terms were not disclosed; Gridiron said it will support Colibri’s growth across existing markets (healthcare, real estate, financial services) and expand into additional regulated professions.

Critical Alert Systems completed the acquisition of Sphere3 Consulting to integrate Sphere3’s Aperum patient analytics and clinical advisory capabilities with Critical Alert’s enterprise nurse call and patient communications platform. The deal brings Sphere3’s leadership into Critical Alert (Kourtney Govro joined as VP of Business Development) and is supported by Wedbush Capital Partners, the majority investor in Critical Alert, to accelerate an integrated patient communication and experience management offering.

Akoya Capital Partners and Landon Capital Partners, in partnership with current management, have acquired TTG, Inc. (Trinity Technology Group), a Higginsville, Missouri-based manufacturer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes. The investors plan to support growth of TTG’s product lines and expand the company’s customer relationships and geographic footprint into new end markets such as apparel and electronics; Wintrust Bank provided senior debt for the transaction.

Boyne Capital has acquired Adapt Laser Systems, the exclusive North American sales, distribution and technical services partner to German OEM CleanLASER. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, Adapt Laser provides laser cleaning and surface-preparation equipment and services to aerospace, automotive, defense and other industrial end-markets; the transaction represents a platform investment by Boyne (BCM Fund I) to support growth and expand market adoption of laser cleaning solutions.

BV Investment Partners partnered with Intelliteach management to recapitalize Intelliteach, acquiring the company from Dominus Capital, L.P. Intelliteach is a St. Louis–headquartered provider of tech-enabled business process outsourcing and managed IT/financial services for law and accounting firms; BV said it will support the company’s organic growth and M&A strategy to expand services and scale the business.

Cameron Ashley Building Products, a Pacific Avenue Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired the assets of St. Louis-based Warrior Building Products to expand its distribution footprint in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois. The acquisition strengthens Cameron Ashley’s presence in the Midwest and complements its existing Missouri locations while adding another stocking/distribution site to its network.

Sterling Investment Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, announced an investment in Marcone Appliance Parts, a St. Louis-based distributor of OEM residential appliance repair parts. Sterling said it will partner with Marcone’s management to support continued growth, leveraging Marcone’s national distribution footprint and technology-driven operations.