Acquisitions in New Jersey in 2023

Emler Swim School acquired New Jersey Swim Schools, Inc. (Njswim) in Q4 2023, adding six locations in New Jersey and expanding Emler's network to 51 facilities across 12 states. Njswim will continue operating under its current name with the same enrollment plans and staff; the founder Joe Oehme will be stepping into the partnership with Emler to maintain continuity.

The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm, has completed an investment in the parent company of Impact XM, a full-service experiential marketing and event production agency. Riverside said the partnership will accelerate Impact XM’s domestic and international growth and expand its capabilities across live events, corporate activations and brand experiences.

Novvia Group, a national rigid container and life-sciences packaging distributor backed by Kelso & Company, has acquired JWJ Packaging LLC, a Millstone Township, New Jersey-based supplier of drums, pails and other rigid containers. Financial terms were not disclosed; JWJ will be combined with Novvia's existing New Jersey subsidiary, Rahway Steel Drum, as part of Novvia's Northeast U.S. expansion.

NEORIS, an Advent International portfolio company, has acquired ForeFront, a New Jersey-based Salesforce Summit Partner and cloud consulting specialist. The deal expands NEORIS' Salesforce capabilities and global delivery footprint by integrating ForeFront's IP-based accelerators and industry expertise across manufacturing, healthcare, telecom and automotive end markets.

Schweiger Dermatology Group (SDG) has acquired NavaDerm Partners' New Jersey practices — Millburn Laser Center and Scherl Dermatology — from NavaDerm, a portfolio company of BelHealth Investment Partners. Terms were not disclosed; Brown Gibbons Lang & Company served as exclusive financial advisor to NavaDerm. The transaction expands SDG's East Coast footprint and provider network.

World Insurance Associates LLC acquired the business of Calhoun Agency, Inc. (Haddonfield, New Jersey) effective December 1, 2023; terms were not disclosed. Calhoun, founded in 1926, serves individual and business insurance clients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and will join World’s national brokerage platform. Advisors to the deal included Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla and Hagner & Zohlman, LLC; Fortrust Diligence advised World.

3STEP Sports has acquired EDP Soccer, International Sporting Events and New York Club Soccer, adding league and event management capabilities to its expanding soccer division. The deal expands 3STEP's youth soccer footprint across New England, the Mid-Atlantic, Ohio, Florida and Eastern Canada and positions the company as the largest owner-operator of youth soccer leagues in the United States.

ITE Management L.P. has acquired a majority ownership stake in Trend Intermodal Chassis Leasing LLC, a Kearny, New Jersey–based chassis leasing company. The investment will expand ITE’s intermodal chassis portfolio and provide Trend with operational and capital support while founder and CEO Ayman Awad and the existing management team remain in place.

Senior Market Sales (SMS), an Omaha-based insurance marketing organization, has acquired Medi-Solutions Insurance Agency, LLC (which operates as First Jersey Insurance Agency in New Jersey). The deal expands SMS’s Medicare distribution network and provides Medi-Solutions’ agents access to SMS proprietary technology, back-office support and marketing systems to drive growth and retention.

Benchmark Tool and Supply has acquired TigerSupplies.com, an online retailer of construction lasers and surveying equipment. The deal will integrate TigerSupplies.com's ecommerce capabilities and product assortment into Benchmark's operations to expand Benchmark's construction-technology product offering and market presence.

Dallas-based Surge Private Equity closed a majority investment in Coastal Amusements, Inc., a Lakewood, New Jersey designer, manufacturer and importer of coin-operated ticket and prize redemption games. NorthCoast Mezzanine and Minnesota Bank & Trust provided financing for the transaction, with BakerHostetler and Moss Adams advising and CoView Capital acting as Coastal's advisor. Surge said the partnership will support product development, growth initiatives and continued management continuity (founders Sal and Lenny will remain with the company).

Aldine Capital Partners provided a subordinated note and equity investment alongside Provariant Equity Partners in Smart Vent Holdings LLC, a Mount Royal, New Jersey-based manufacturer of engineered flood mitigation products. The capital infusion is a growth-oriented financing to support Smart Vent’s manufacturing and floodproofing services across residential, commercial and municipal markets.

H.I.G. Growth Partners completed the sale of its portfolio company Just Home Healthcare Services (JHC) in two transactions: the Personal Home Care and Adult Day Health segments were sold in April 2023 to Honor Health Network (backed by Webster Equity Partners), and the Group Home and Independent Living Program segments were sold in October 2023 to RHA Health Services (backed by Blue Wolf Capital). H.I.G. acquired JHC in January 2017 and during its hold the company expanded group home capacity, grew home-care census hours and materially improved revenue and EBITDA prior to the divestitures.

Two Roads Advisors represented WeCool Toys (maker of Compound Kings slime and compounds) in its sale to Paladone, a portfolio company of private equity firm IVEST Consumer Partners, announced in November 2023. The acquisition brings WeCool's slime, compounds and related toy product lines into Paladone's global gift and novelty portfolio.

Harrington Industrial Plastics, a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity, has acquired PumpMan Holdings, LLC from Soundcore Capital Partners. PumpMan is a provider of onsite maintenance, repair, replacement and pump sales for commercial, industrial and municipal water and wastewater systems; the deal adds national pump service capabilities to Harrington's flow-control distribution platform.

E Source, the Align Capital Partners-backed utility market intelligence and data-science platform, has acquired UMS Group, a utility management consulting firm. The add-on strengthens E Source’s consulting capabilities in areas such as wildfire risk reduction, asset management, renewable integration and advanced AI modeling for utilities.

South Mill Champs, a vertically integrated North American grower and supplier of fresh mushrooms and functional mushroom foods, has acquired World Fresh Produce, a global fresh produce sourcing organization. The acquisition expands South Mill Champs’ produce sourcing capabilities and leverages its cold-chain distribution network to extend World Fresh Produce’s reach across North America.

BradyIFS + Envoy Solutions, a leading janitorial/sanitation, foodservice disposables and industrial packaging distributor, has acquired Qualmax Supplies, Inc., a regional distributor serving New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The acquisition expands BradyIFS + Envoy Solutions’ distribution footprint in the Northeast and integrates Qualmax’s institutional customer relationships and Linden, New Jersey warehouse capabilities into the combined platform.

Granite Creek Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private investment firm, has acquired NYP, LLC (d/b/a NYP Corp.), a value-added packaging manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Elizabeth, New Jersey. As part of the transaction Robert Dahl was named CEO and Granite Creek partners joined NYP's board; sellers included long-time owner-operators Christopher and Jerry LaBelle. Granite Creek said it will support product diversification, expansion, and continued growth at the company.

Tecum Capital led a minority recapitalization of Hainesport Transportation Group (HTG), co-investing alongside Dickson Suit and Environmental Services Investors (ESI), with Comerica providing senior debt. The investment will provide growth capital and strategic support to expand HTG's vertically integrated waste logistics platform across the Northeast U.S.

Code Red Safety, a portfolio company of Warren Equity Partners, has acquired HazTek LLC, a Medford, New Jersey-based safety consulting and worksite safety services firm. The deal expands Code Red's safety management capabilities, geographic footprint and field personnel depth to better serve high-growth end markets such as pharmaceuticals, data centers, and e-commerce.

Saatva has entered into a merger with Bedding Industries of America (BIA), bringing BIA’s manufacturing footprint and licensing portfolio under Saatva’s control to create greater end-to-end supply chain ownership. TZP Group will maintain its investment in Saatva; financial terms were not disclosed. The combination is intended to expand manufacturing capabilities, create operational efficiencies, and accelerate growth for Saatva’s DTC and showroom business.

Madison Energy Infrastructure (MEI) has acquired Pro-Tech Energy Solutions, a Moorestown, New Jersey-based turnkey energy services and EPC firm. The acquisition strengthens MEI's execution and delivery capabilities—adding Pro-Tech's EPC team and a pipeline of offsite and front-of-the-meter solar projects to MEI's clean energy platform.

EMK Capital has acquired Servion Global Solutions, a portfolio company of Everstone Capital. Servion is a technology-agnostic provider of customer experience (CX) and digital engineering solutions with over 1,000 employees and a global footprint; BDA Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Servion and its shareholders.

Noramco has completed the acquisition of the Cambrex Drug Product Business Unit (previously Halo Pharmaceuticals), adding drug product formulation development, clinical and commercial manufacturing, and packaging capabilities from sites in Mirabel, Québec and Whippany, New Jersey. The purchase expands Noramco's service offering beyond APIs, brings nearly 400 employees into the Noramco group, and represents Cambrex's strategic divestiture to focus on its drug substance and analytical testing businesses.

qBotica Inc. has made a strategic investment in Healthomation Inc. to expand its healthcare automation and AI/ML offerings, combining qBotica's RPA and document-understanding capabilities with Healthomation's healthcare-focused automation solutions. The partnership aims to accelerate development of EDI- and RPA-driven automation for healthcare providers and revenue cycle management vendors, improving integration, efficiency, and patient care workflows.

Nautic Partners acquired Tabula Rasa HealthCare for $10.50 per share (approximately $570 million enterprise value, including ~$262 million of net debt) and combined it with ExactCare, a Nautic portfolio company. The combined organization has been rebranded AnewHealth and will deliver integrated, technology-enabled pharmacy care management across the United States, serving more than 100,000 beneficiaries.

Kinetech, a U.S.-based Mendix and low-code solutions provider, has acquired Low‑Code Integrations and welcomed founder Jeff Watts as Director of Enterprise Services. The acquisition expands Kinetech's Mendix expertise and delivery capacity to support larger digital transformation engagements across financial, industrial, and public-sector clients; financial terms were not disclosed.

Kingsway Financial Services (NYSE: KFS) acquired Digital Diagnostics Imaging, Inc. (DDI), a New Jersey-based provider of outsourced cardiac monitoring telemetry services, for $11.0 million in an all-cash transaction funded with cash and debt. The acquisition, completed under Kingsway's Search Xcelerator platform, is immediately accretive and adds about $4.2 million of annual revenue and $1.8 million of annual adjusted EBITDA while bringing a capital-light, recurring-revenue capability into Kingsway's portfolio.

Investment funds managed by TowerBrook Capital Partners have entered into a definitive agreement to take a minority stake in Langan Engineering & Environmental Services. Langan's management and employee shareholders will retain majority ownership; the financing package includes support from Blackstone Credit, CPPIB Credit Investments III and SMBC, and the deal is expected to close in Q1 2024.

Littlejohn & Co. and funds managed by Ares have completed a recapitalization of Interstate Waste Services (IWS), with Ares acquiring a significant equity stake and IWS completing a debt recapitalization led by a JP Morgan arranger group. Headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, IWS operates ~650 collection vehicles and nearly 30 facilities with more than 1,900 employees; the transaction positions the company to accelerate organic and inorganic growth across the greater New York City and New Jersey markets.

Veristat, a full-service clinical research organization, has acquired Instat Clinical Research, a biometrics-focused CRO with teams in the United States and India. The deal expands Veristat's biometrics, data management, biostatistics, and statistical programming capabilities while adding offshore capacity to enable round-the-clock support for clinical studies.

SportsMed Physical Therapy, a Hildred Capital-backed platform, acquired the two-clinic Mountainside Wellness practice in Mountainside and Colonia, New Jersey. The acquisition adds two locations to SportsMed’s existing footprint and furthers the company's strategy of regional expansion via add-on M&A.

Atlantic Utility Trailer Sales, Inc. has acquired Utility Trailer Sales of New Jersey, Inc., adding the North Brunswick operations to Atlantic's Thorofare-based dealership. The deal expands Atlantic's coverage into North Jersey, Metro New York and Long Island; Tom Barton (CEO) and Spencer Kiernan (CFO/COO) will continue to lead the combined business and the Dwyer family (previous owners) will join the new Atlantic Utility Trailer Sales, Inc.

National Carwash Solutions (NCS) has acquired Panaram International Trading Co., which does business as USA Towel (USAtowl / formerly Carwashworld). The deal brings USA Towel’s towels, customized laundry products and Continental E-Series ExpressWash washer-extractors into NCS’s portfolio to expand its bundled product and service offering for carwash owners and operators across North America.

Funds advised by SK Capital Partners have acquired J&K Ingredients from CORE Industrial Partners. The acquisition, completed November 20, 2023, positions SK Capital to build a clean-label food & beverage ingredients platform around J&K's specialty preservative and bakery ingredient capabilities; debt financing was provided by KeyBanc Capital Markets, Kayne Anderson Private Credit, and Benefit Street Partners.

Citation Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm, will acquire a majority interest in Cibo Vita, a Totowa, New Jersey-based better-for-you snack manufacturer. The founders, Emre Imamoglu and Ahmet Celik, will remain significant shareholders as Citation partners with management to accelerate growth and innovation; financial financing is being led by Wells Fargo, Bank of America and American Ag Credit.

TPG Rise Climate has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in AmSpec (AmSpec Parent, LLC / AmSpec Group, Inc.) from Olympus Partners, with Olympus retaining a minority stake. AmSpec is a global testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) provider operating over 300 inspection sites and 166 laboratories with more than 5,000 employees; TPG Rise Climate said it will support the company’s expansion into renewable fuels and other climate-related markets. The transaction is subject to regulatory review and expected to close in Q4 2023.

World Insurance Associates LLC ("World"), a national insurance brokerage, acquired the business of Oakwood Insurance Agency, LLC (dba Insure Big Rig) of Califon, New Jersey on October 1, 2023. The acquisition brings Oakwood's trucking insurance expertise and customer base into World’s national platform; terms were not disclosed.

NFI, LLC, the owner of the Blue-Emu brand, has acquired the Bikini Zone skincare brand from CCA Industries. The deal adds Bikini Zone's bikini-area grooming product line to NFI's portfolio and is intended to expand NFI's personal care offerings and distribution reach.

Health & Wellness Partners (HWP), a PE-backed medical and scientific communications agency, has acquired Hybrid Healthcare Communications to combine HWP's medical content and strategic offerings with Hybrid's digital and interactive engagement capabilities. The deal expands HWP's service capabilities across medical affairs, marketing, and speaker bureau offerings and strengthens its digital and virtual engagement solutions.

Wren House Infrastructure Management has agreed to purchase an equity stake in SeaCube Container Leasing Ltd., entering a co-control arrangement with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board. The investment will support SeaCube's growth plans—particularly its refrigerated container and cold‑chain offerings—by combining Wren House's infrastructure expertise with Ontario Teachers' ongoing ownership and SeaCube's management team.

An affiliate of PT Solutions Physical Therapy has completed the acquisition of ActivePro Rehab Partners from an affiliate of The Beekman Group (Beekman Investment Partners IV). ActivePro is a regional provider of outpatient physical and occupational therapy across the Mid‑Atlantic (anchored in New Jersey); financial terms were not disclosed. The deal expands PT Solutions' national footprint and consolidates ActivePro's family of clinic brands under PT Solutions.

Funds managed by the Transportation Infrastructure strategy of Oaktree Capital Management acquired Consolidated Chassis Management (CCM) from the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA). The investment provides CCM with expanded capital to support the launch and operations of the South Atlantic Consolidated Chassis Pool (SACP 3.0), fleet upgrades and broader service expansion across major Southeast U.S. ports.

CFS Brands has acquired The Foodware Group (TFG), a combination of G.E.T. and Winco, from Olympus Partners; the transaction closed October 2, 2023. The deal brings together CFS Brands' portfolio with TFG's front- and back-of-house smallwares and distribution capabilities to create a broader supplier for foodservice, healthcare and hygiene customers and to expand product, sourcing and distribution scale.

BMI Merchandise, backed by KLH Capital, has acquired Peek-a-Boo Toys of Cinnaminson, New Jersey. The acquisition adds Peek-a-Boo's plush toy designs to BMI's catalog, expanding BMI's product offering and enabling entry into new end markets within the family entertainment and amusement sectors.

Advent International and Warburg Pincus completed the acquisition of Baxter International's BioPharma Solutions (BPS) business for $4.25 billion in cash, creating a standalone CDMO named Simtra BioPharma Solutions. Simtra will operate manufacturing sites in Bloomington, Indiana and Halle, Germany, establish a corporate headquarters in New Jersey, and employ approximately 1,700 people to provide sterile contract manufacturing and parenteral delivery services to pharma and biotech customers.

Sanofi has completed the acquisition of Qunol, a U.S.-based vitamins and supplements brand, to strengthen its Consumer Healthcare (CHC) portfolio in the Vitamin, Mineral and Supplements (VMS) category. The deal adds Qunol's CoQ10 and Turmeric offerings—targeting heart and joint health—to Sanofi's U.S. consumer health lineup and supports expansion into the healthy-aging segment.

Azurity Pharmaceuticals has completed the acquisition of Slayback Pharma LLC from existing investors including KKR and Everstone Capital, making Slayback a wholly owned subsidiary of Azurity. The deal expands Azurity's R&D and complex formulation capabilities and accelerates its pipeline for new medicine launches as part of its growth strategy under majority owner QHP Capital.

Alfasigma S.p.A agreed to acquire Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in an all-cash transaction of US$19.00 per share via a cash tender offer, representing an 82% premium to Intercept's September 25, 2023 closing price. The deal expands Alfasigma’s gastroenterology and hepatology portfolio (including Ocaliva) and strengthens its presence in the U.S.; the transaction was expected to close by the end of 2023.