Acquisitions in North Carolina in 2022

Marcal Paper has acquired von Drehle Corporation, a provider of towel and tissue products for the away-from-home market. Von Drehle will operate as a division of Marcal, expanding Marcal's manufacturing footprint and scale across the East Coast and nationwide; financial terms were not disclosed.

Engineered Foam Packaging (EFP), a unit of EFP, LLC., has acquired NatureKool, Inc., a North Carolina-based maker of natural-fiber insulated shippers. The deal expands EFP's Temperature Solutions Group product set with compostable, curbside-recyclable natural-fiber thermal packaging and strengthens its cold-chain and sustainable packaging capabilities for pharmaceutical and food customers.

AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc. completed its acquisition of Adhesion Wealth, a provider of wealth-management technology and outsourced investment solutions for RIAs, TAMPs and asset managers. AssetMark paid $46 million (plus transaction costs and contingent payments) for Adhesion, which had $7.3 billion in total billable assets as of November 30, 2022; Adhesion will continue to operate commercially as a standalone business under its brand.

Ty J. Young Wealth Management acquired the insurance and wealth advisory practice of Michael R. Martin in Reidsville, North Carolina, in a deal that closed in November 2022. The acquisition brings Mr. Martin's clients into Ty J. Young's platform as the advisor retires and expands the firm's presence in North Carolina.

CentralBDC, an SJ Partners–backed outsourced Business Development Center (BDC) for automotive dealerships, has taken a majority stake in Better Car People (BCP), an omnichannel outbound customer engagement provider for dealers. The acquisition was funded by SJ Partners with co-investment / financing from Everside Capital Partners, Northcreek Mezzanine and Resolute Capital Partners, with Enterprise Bank & Trust providing an incremental senior term loan; the deal is an add-on to expand CentralBDC's customer engagement platform and capabilities for OEMs and dealer partners.

Fidelity Building Services Group (Fidelity BSG) acquired Air One Industries, a North Carolina-based mechanical/HVAC provider, adding the company to Fidelity’s integrated building solutions platform. The acquisition expands Fidelity BSG’s service footprint in the Southeast and brings Air One’s capabilities in HVAC installation, chiller/process cooling, building automation, and 24/7 maintenance into its family of companies.

An affiliate of Executive Information Systems (EIS), a portfolio company of CCP Capital Strategies, has acquired Zencos Consulting LLC. The founders, David Septoff and Benjamin Zenick, retain an equity stake and will continue to lead the business; the acquisition expands EIS' SAS-based analytics, cloud modernization, and managed analytics capabilities.

Construction Partners, Inc. (CPI) has acquired Ferebee Corporation, a Charlotte-based full-service hot‑mix asphalt and paving company with three hot‑mix asphalt plants in the greater Charlotte/Rock Hill area. The acquisition is a platform move that expands CPI's geographic footprint into western North Carolina and the Charlotte metro, and is expected to be accretive to earnings while maintaining the company's 2022 fiscal year-end leverage ratio.

Focus Impact Partners, LLC and Meaningful Partners LLC made a strategic growth investment in Skiptown to fund expansion and new location openings. The investment includes a board appointment of Steve King and will support Skiptown’s multi-unit scaling of its pet services and experiential venues; terms were not disclosed.

NextGen Healthcare, Inc. agreed to acquire TSI Healthcare, a Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based value-added reseller of NextGen practice management and EHR solutions. The deal includes $68 million in cash upfront plus up to $22 million in earnout, is effective November 30, 2022, and is expected to add approximately $10–12 million of revenue in the remaining four months of fiscal 2023 while expanding NextGen’s presence in specialty physician markets.

Concentric Investment Partners closed a growth investment in One Source Communications, a Greenville, North Carolina managed services provider. Proceeds from Concentric's investment were used by One Source to acquire SUMO Technologies and to support other growth initiatives.

MPE Partners and its portfolio company Waterfront Brands have acquired Tide Tamer, a Snow Hill, North Carolina manufacturer and distributor of aluminum watercraft lifts, docks, and waterfront accessories. The add-on expands Waterfront's product portfolio and Southeastern footprint and brings Tide Tamer's Boat Lift Warehouse e-commerce channel into the Waterfront platform; deal financing was provided by Tree Line Capital Partners, Manulife Investment Management, Northwestern Mutual Capital and LBC Credit Partners.

Gallant Capital Partners completed a strategic growth investment in Lightning Step Technologies, a Charlotte-based provider of all-in-one enterprise software for the behavioral health industry. The capital will be used to expand Lightning Step's team, accelerate its product roadmap, and support strategic acquisitions while existing management (including CEO Kirk Monroe and Chairman Jamison Monroe) remain material owners.

IgniteTech has completed an asset acquisition of AnswerHub, Inc., a knowledge-management and developer community platform. The acquisition will add AnswerHub's Q&A, knowledge base and community capabilities to IgniteTech's enterprise software portfolio and make the product available through IgniteTech's 'Unlimited' subscription program.

Choreo, LLC has entered into an agreement to acquire Cherry Bekaert Wealth Management LLC, a Southeast-based wealth management business with approximately $1 billion in assets under management and advisement. The deal includes a strategic partnership with Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC, is expected to close by year-end (subject to customary conditions), and expands Choreo’s AUM to roughly $14.5 billion post-close.

Veranex has received strategic growth investments from Accelmed Partners II and Lauxera Capital Partners, joining existing investor Summit Partners, which retains majority ownership. The investments — terms undisclosed — will support Veranex’s continued global expansion and development of its integrated, tech‑enabled medical technology product development services; Uri Geiger (Accelmed) and Samuel Levy (Lauxera) joined Veranex’s board.

Cencosud completed acquisitions of U.S.-based The Fresh Market and Brazil-based GIGA Atacado, which were integrated into the group's results in 3Q22 and materially contributed to revenue and Adjusted EBITDA growth. The deals expand Cencosud's supermarket footprint across the United States and Brazil and support the group's inorganic growth and market share strategy.

Kaho Partners formed holding company Addtronics and, through it, acquired Dynamic Design Solutions (DDS), a Charlotte-based custom robotic automation systems provider. The founder Brad DeMarco retained a meaningful ownership stake and the existing management team will continue to run DDS as part of Addtronics' buy-and-build strategy to scale robotic automation capabilities for U.S. manufacturers.

ZEDRA has completed the acquisition of Atlas Fund Services, a privately held fund administrator with offices in Charlotte, North Carolina and Willemstad, Curaçao. The deal expands ZEDRA's fund administration capabilities and establishes a US and strengthened Latin American presence for the firm's fund services business.

Concentric Equity Partners (the direct investing arm of Financial Investments Corporation) completed a recapitalization of Aruza Pest Control, a Charlotte-based provider of residential and commercial pest, termite, and mosquito control services. CEP is partnering with Aruza co-founder and CRO Christian Ludwig (who retains a significant stake) and CEO Andrew Beck to scale the company into a super-regional pest control platform across the Southeast.

Solesis, an operating company backed by Altaris, has acquired Polyzen, a contract developer and manufacturer of polymer-based films, coatings, components and assemblies for the medical device and biopharmaceutical markets. Polyzen will operate as a subsidiary of Solesis, expanding Solesis' polymer film and coating capabilities to better serve medical device, bioprocessing, drug delivery and cell and gene therapy customers.

BILL (Bill.com) has acquired Finmark, a provider of financial planning and analysis and cash‑flow forecasting software for small and midsize businesses. The acquisition adds FP&A, planning and cash‑flow analytics capabilities to BILL’s financial operations platform to help SMBs and accounting firms gain deeper, real‑time insight into cash flow and forecasting.

US LBM, a leading privately owned distributor of specialty building materials, has acquired Comtech, a North Carolina-based manufacturer of structural roof and floor trusses and engineered wood products. Comtech will operate within US LBM’s Professional Builders Supply division, expanding US LBM’s manufacturing capabilities and service footprint across key markets in the Carolinas.

Medicus IT, a national healthcare-focused managed services provider headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, has acquired MDcentric Technologies, a Charlotte-based healthcare-focused managed service provider. The deal expands Medicus' East Coast footprint, adds a North Carolina office and strengthens its managed IT, cloud and cybersecurity capabilities for healthcare and other regulated end markets.

Ty J. Young Wealth Management, an Atlanta-based independent wealth management firm, has acquired Charlotte Financial Services, LLC of Matthews, North Carolina. The deal — closed in November 2022 — transfers the practice and client relationships of CEO John Kastraba, Sr to Ty J. Young as part of Kastraba's retirement and expands Ty J. Young's national footprint.

Sign In Solutions, a PSG-backed provider of cloud-based visitor management and risk mitigation software, has acquired ThreatSwitch, a security compliance workspace provider. The acquisition will integrate ThreatSwitch's compliance and security capabilities into Sign In Solutions' Visitor Management 2.0 (VM 2.0) vision to expand product capability and reduce customer risk across enterprise and defense-related markets.

Amphenol Corporation acquired Integrated Cable Assembly Holdings, Inc. (ICA) from Granite Bridge Partners in September 2022. The acquisition adds ICA’s network of U.S. and Mexico cable-assembly and wire-harness manufacturing facilities to Amphenol’s portfolio to expand manufacturing capacity, capabilities and end-market coverage.

Integrity Marketing Group (Integrity) has acquired Elevation Sales Coaching, a Wake Forest, North Carolina-based sales coaching and insurance agency focused on the senior market. As part of the deal, Elevation President Jordan Smith becomes a Managing Partner at Integrity; financial terms were not disclosed.

Snow Peak Capital acquired Dalco Nonwovens, LLC and Global Felt Technologies, Inc. in partnership with Joey Duncan, who will continue to lead the businesses and retain significant ownership. The acquisition creates a Snow Peak platform to capture synergies across the two nonwovens manufacturers serving automotive, geotextile, furniture/bedding and industrial end markets.

Resource Label Group has acquired MedLit Solutions, a pharmaceutical packaging, labeling and printing provider with facilities in North Carolina and New Jersey. The deal is an add-on to Resource Label's platform (a portfolio company of Ares Management) and was a sale by CORE Industrial Partners, which built the MedLit platform through prior tuck-ins and investments.

CHA Consulting, Inc. has acquired Frazier Engineering, a Charlotte-area civil engineering firm specializing in sewer system assessment, flow monitoring, rehabilitation design and construction management. The 45-employee firm will be rebranded as CHA Consulting, Inc. and expand CHA’s water/wastewater capabilities and geographic footprint across the Southeast.

Events.com has acquired HelpGetSponsors.com (HGS), a SaaS sponsorship sales and management platform, to integrate automated sponsorship matching and management into its event management suite. Tom Crichton, founder of HGS, will continue to support Events.com in an advisory role as the company expands its sponsorship-driven revenue tools for event organizers.

Valtech, a global business transformation company, has acquired Union, a Charlotte-based performance marketing and creative agency. 7 Mile Advisors served as Union's exclusive sellside advisor; the deal expands Valtech's end-to-end creative and performance marketing capabilities across North America.

Charlesbank Technology Opportunities Fund, managed by Charlesbank Capital Partners, made a majority investment in ImageQuix, a Raleigh-based provider of workflow and e-commerce software for the high-volume photography industry. ASG (the prior sponsor) will exit or reduce its stake while ImageQuix CEO Alex Kovacevic and management remain shareholders; the capital will be used to accelerate organic growth and pursue M&A.

Allied Industrial Partners LLC completed a recapitalization investment in Wall Recycling, LLC, a Raleigh-based provider of waste hauling, disposal and recycling services. Wall Recycling (which later rebranded to Liberty Waste Solutions) will remain led by founder and CEO Dan Wall and will use the partnership to support growth, operational enhancements and buy-and-build expansion.

SmartCommerce, a data-centric SaaS provider for CPG brands, has acquired Myxx, a recipe-centric eCommerce platform, to deepen consumer product discovery capabilities within its Click2Cart portfolio. Myxx CEO Dede Houston will join SmartCommerce as the companies integrate Myxx's recipe-driven commerce and audience analytics to accelerate purchase velocity for CPG brands and retailers.

Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP) has acquired AGDATA, a Charlotte-based provider of data and workflow solutions for the agribusiness and animal health sectors, from Vista Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed; AGDATA's CEO Heffy Provost will remain in place as LLCP positions the company as a platform investment to expand its tech-enabled data and analytics capabilities serving agriculture and animal health customers.

Wincove Private Holdings, LP invested in PumpOne Environmental, LLC, a Cornelius, North Carolina-based designer and manufacturer of leachate extraction pumps and landfill accessory products. Wincove partnered with PumpOne founders Shawn and Michele Devinney and GM Larry Holmes to support the company's next stage of organic and inorganic growth.

PeopleShare, a Collegeville, Pennsylvania-based staffing firm, has acquired DecisionPathHR, a temporary staffing company with four locations in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. The acquisition expands PeopleShare’s branch footprint to 40 offices across eight states and strengthens its presence in North Carolina and South Carolina.

The Riverside Company has invested in FoodLogiQ, LLC as an add-on to its ESHA Research platform. The deal brings FoodLogiQ's supply-chain and traceability SaaS capabilities together with ESHA's nutrition analysis and labeling software to expand the combined platform's food-safety, traceability and regulatory-compliance offerings.

Chicago-based private equity firm May River Capital acquired Spiroflow and combined it with Cablevey Conveyors to create Automated Handling Solutions (AHS). Northstar Capital provided junior debt and an equity co-investment to help finance the transaction; Spiroflow will continue operating under existing leadership to drive growth across food, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and specialty chemical end markets.

Incyte has entered into an agreement to acquire Villaris Therapeutics, obtaining exclusive global rights to auremolimab (VM6), an anti-IL-15Rβ monoclonal antibody targeting vitiligo and other autoimmune diseases. Villaris shareholders will receive $70 million upfront and may receive up to $1.36 billion in development and commercial milestone payments; the acquisition expands Incyte's inflammation/autoimmunity and dermatology portfolio.

The Hilb Group has acquired Winston-Salem-based Allegacy Benefit Solutions, effective October 1, 2022, expanding Hilb's employee benefits capabilities and presence in the Southeast. Allegacy Benefit Solutions' leadership team, including Sharon Yarborough and Chad Huff, will join Hilb Group's Southeast regional operations to broaden services for local employer clients.

The Vistria Group has invested in Flores & Associates LLC, a Charlotte-based administrator of employer-sponsored reimbursement plans and benefits technology solutions. As part of the recapitalization, The Vistria Group and Century Equity Partners will each hold equal ownership and continue to support the existing management team, providing capital and operational resources to drive organic growth and further M&A.

Idera Pharmaceuticals completed an all-stock acquisition of Aceragen, a privately held biotech focused on rare pulmonary and rheumatic diseases, adding Aceragen's lead programs ACG-701 and ACG-801 to Idera's pipeline. The transaction was structured as a stock-for-stock exchange, includes management appointments from Aceragen, and is expected to provide pro forma cash runway into Q3 2023 while advancing Aceragen's clinical milestones.

Rotunda Capital Partners has invested in Canter Power Systems, a Greensboro-based residential generator installer, creating a new platform investment and positioning the company for geographic expansion, new product categories (including battery/solar), and add-on acquisitions. Founder Ken Canter will remain as a special advisor while third-generation family leader Brian Lopatka will serve as CEO.

JMI Equity made a minority growth equity investment in Vantaca to accelerate product development, hire talent, and support the company’s continued expansion in the community management market. Vantaca’s founders and management retain majority ownership while JMI will be a minority shareholder and strategic partner focused on supporting the company’s innovation and growth plans.

Blue Ridge Construction Capital LLC, in partnership with aggregate industry veteran Anthony Minshew, acquired Matthews Sand and Gravel and Edge Aggregates, LLC and combined them to form Matthews-Edge Sand, a leading supplier of construction and concrete sand serving the Raleigh, North Carolina market. BRCC said the investment creates a market-leading platform in the Carolinas with plans to grow through organic investment and add-on acquisitions to expand capabilities and market share.

LFM Capital, a Nashville-based private equity firm, has made an investment in Construction Implements Depot, LLC (CID Attachments), a Denton, North Carolina manufacturer of skid steer, compact track loader, compact tractor and mini-excavator attachments. Terms were not disclosed; LFM said CID and fellow portfolio company IronCraft will continue to serve their customers while leveraging shared resources across product development, production, and distribution.

Crete Mechanical Group, a Ridgemont Equity Partners-backed commercial mechanical services platform, has recapitalized Greensboro, North Carolina-based AC Corporation and added it as a partner company. The transaction is intended to accelerate AC Corp.'s growth and expand Crete's presence across North Carolina and adjacent East Coast markets by leveraging Crete's operational support and partner network.