As part of a corporate strategy to enhance focus, Kinsella Group represented a diversified private company in the sale of its heavy duty suspension business to a private equity fund backed by a major China-based strategic investor.
The Business was an 85 year old manufacturer of heavy duty suspension systems for trucks, trailers, RVs and other specialty vehicles. Kinsella Group advised the Business and Corporate Management in their search for a new owner that could provide financial and strategic support to execute the future growth of the Business.
After an extensive assessment of both strategic and financial investors a uniquely structured private equity fund, with a broad international portfolio of related businesses, surfaced as the best partner for the Business. The Buyer brought not only financial resources, but a shared global view of the heavy-duty vehicle market. In addition to these benefits, the new owner will expand the business’s presence in worldwide markets, and China in particular, and provide sourcing assistance to enhance the cost position in North America.
Kinsella Group was successful in finding the right strategic buyer for a financially strong and highly profitable medical data marketing company. Two of the three selling partners are retiring; the third partner will join the acquirer’s management team and will help lead the merged companies. Total consideration in the deal is in excess of $30mm.
Representing the Seller in the transaction, Kinsella Group researched the industry, wrote a Confidential Offering Memorandum, contacted over 100 potential buyers, and coordinated management meetings with selected prospective acquirers. A dozen offers were submitted and the partners selected, and ultimately closed, a deal with the acquirer who offered the best combination of economic, cultural, and strategic fits.
A $40 million in revenues drink dispensing equipment maker was sold to a strategic acquirer in the same industry. The Selling Company boasted strong brand names, a high quality distribution facility, and a state of the art production facility in Asia. Due to limited overlap in product lines and distribution, the ability to more fully utilize physical facilities, and overhead reductions due to rationalization of management and plant staffing, the Buyer expects significant improvement in profitability will result from the business combination.
Representing the Sellers, a group of independent financial investors, Kinsella Group prepared a Confidential Offering Memorandum based on its “marginal contribution” model and focused its attention on strategic acquirers only. An intense marketing effort led to a number of management meetings with prospective buyers, which ultimately resulted in an all cash transaction for the sale of the business and certain of its real estate assets.
Kinsella Group’s long history of bringing value to middle-market transactions and its “marginal contribution” model — which focuses on the value a business adds in combination with an acquirer’s existing infrastructure, as opposed to ebitda multiple valuation metrics — were key elements in the sale.
Kinsella Group worked with the owner and management team of a Midwestern U.S.-based manufacturer of injection-molded closures, caps, lids and dispensers in constructing a strategic business plan and identifying a focused buyer-prospect list consisting of purchasers that could create maximum value for the Company. Aggressive marketing resulted in proposals from strategic and financial buyers located in the U.S. and Europe; the manufacturer was ultimately sold to a Chicago-based family office in an all-cash transaction. The original management team has been retained in full.
The founder (and sole owner) of a $25-million experiential marketing company approached Kinsella Group with two goals in mind: generate personal liquidity and increase expansion opportunities for his company. After 15 years of growth, the company was a recognized industry leader but was increasingly competing against large, international, agency networks. In order to continue to grow, the founder realized he needed to partner with a large, well-capitalized company seeking to add world-class creative abilities to its existing offerings.
After meeting with private equity firms and strategic buyers, Kinsella Group ultimately structured a sale transaction with a multi-billion dollar industry player. The industry player provided the capitalization muscle that the founder’s company lacked, and the founder’s company provided the leading-edge, creative spark missing in the industry player. The transaction included a substantial upfront payment with an extremely lucrative earn-out period, a structure that clearly aligned the goals of both buyer and seller.
Kinsella Group’s long history of bringing value to middle-market transactions and its operational experience in the packaging industry were key elements in the recent, successful sale of a large, Midwest-based electronic media-packaging distributor. Offering one of the broadest ranges of media-packaging products in the country—including DVDs, CDs, videocassettes, and legacy 8-Track and reel-to-reel formats—the company was also in possession of an excellent customer data base, a highly experienced call center and a unique niche product line.
Kinsella Group advised the client that a targeted approach to the pursuit of potential buyers would offer distinct advantages over a broad-based auction approach that might not meet specific financial objectives. Other risks with the auction method included the potential loss of both loyal customers and key employees. Kinsella Group also recommended targeting buyers—in particular, foreign buyers seeking a foothold in the U.S. market—with the potential to leverage the company’s diverse customer base by cross-selling complementary products and who could rationalize the continued use of its existing physical assets.
When the parent company of a struggling manufacturing division wanted to sell the business, it turned to Kinsella Group for assistance. The division, a long-established manufacturer of metal-formed products for the food-processing industry, lacked audited financial statements, had an uneven earnings history, and used outdated machinery and equipment in its manufacturing processes. Further, the owned industrial real estate was located in a weak market.
Kinsella Group conducted a rapid, accurate analysis of the situation and the company, quickly identifying a strategy for selling the division at the highest possible value for the client. Using its knowledge of potential threats from Asia to the industry’s profit base, Kinsella Group identified buyers most likely to gain from capturing a competitor’s sales revenue, prepared a compelling sales document, and conducted relentless negotiations that ultimately resulted in an extraordinarily favorable outcome.
Based on their satisfaction with Kinsella Group’s services and the sales price obtained, the client subsequently retained Kinsella Group for an acquisition initiative that resulted in multiple successful transactions.
When a manufacturer of plastic molded products received an offer to sell, it engaged Kinsella Group to provide advice on the transaction. Kinsella Group’s analysis demonstrated that the offer was substantially below the company’s true value, and recommended the client turn down the offer. Kinsella Group subsequently developed and executed a plan to enhance the value of the business and prepared documentation to support an expanded sales effort. A new buyer was identified, and the sale closed for six times the original offer.
When a client approached Kinsella Group about the potential sale of its printing, retail furniture and office supply operations, a thorough analysis of the situation enabled the identification and execution of a solution that would maximize the seller’s benefit. The client’s operations were segmented and sold in two transactions that, separately, yielded the seller substantially more than the whole had been estimated to bring in a single sale.
When a business-to-business wholesaler engaged Kinsella Group to sell off its catalog division, Kinsella Group identified a buyer, prepared the supporting documentation, and aggressively negotiated a successful transaction. The intangible assets and customer lists were sold for 1.5 times annual sales, representing a substantial premium over market.
