Today's Letter
Good morning all –

Cornell Capital and HarbourVest continue the build of KDC/ONE, its giant contract manufacturer of personal care and home care products, with the add-on acquisition of California-based Cosmetic Laboratories of America (CLA) from Chicago-based Visual Pak. CLA was founded in 1971 and went public in 1987. The company was later acquired by Alberto Culver and then Unilever. Visual Pak picked up the business in 2012. CLA’s 350 employees now join up with KDC/ONE’s 7,000 employees and on a combined basis operate 19 facilities in North America, Europe and Asia.

Cornell Capital (led by Henry Cornell, the former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division) and HarbourVest acquired KDC/ONE from Novacap in December 2018. The two firms have been actively building the company. Earlier this year, KDC/ONE merged with HCT Group, a California-based contract manufacturer of cosmetics products; and in February it acquired Zobele Group, an Italy-based manufacturer of home and air care products.
Yesterday’s big read… Monomoy Capital Partners has acquired Mac Papers, a distributor of paper, packaging, envelopes, and wide-format inkjet printers. The company was founded by the McGehee family in 1965 and is a third-generation, family-owned and operated business. Monomoy acquired Mac Papers through its third private equity fund and is the fifth family-owned business acquired by Monomoy over the past two years. Stephen Presser, a co-founder and partner of Monomoy, led the transaction.

Don’t forget, coming up on March 26th is our webinar on the fast-evolving secondary market which is increasingly being used by smart private equity firms to enhance portfolio company liquidity and returns. There's lots of reward here but, of course, lots of risk too. We have four experts to help guide you through this minefield. Click HERE for more information.

“ Today’s Great Quote” continues its run today with words of wisdom from Captain Jack Sparrow. Check it out all the way at the bottom of Morning Coffee.

Have a great day everyone.

John P. McNulty
Publisher
Private Equity Professional
Questions, comments, complaints? Call me at 847-868-8807 or email me at John@peprofessional.com.
March 18, 2020 | Year 13 | Volume 3 | Issue 9
KDC/ONE Acquires Cosmetic Laboratories of America
Contract manufacturer Knowlton Development Corporation (KDC/ONE) has acquired Cosmetic Laboratories of America, from Visual Pak. Cosmetic Laboratories of America (CLA) is a formulator and manufacturer of personal care and beauty products. The company’s customers range from Fortune 500 companies to other… Read More
Carlyle Cornering Tire Recycling Market
Liberty Tire Recycling, a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, has acquired Lakin Tire. Carlyle acquired Liberty Tire in August 2016 through Carlyle Strategic Partners IV LP. Lakin is a provider of tire removal and recycling services to more than 6,500 tire retailers throughout the Western United States and the Northeast. The company was founded… Read More
Black Diamond Gets New PE Head
Black Diamond Capital Management (BDCM) has named Rodney Cohen as head of private equity. Mr. Cohen will have responsibility for managing the firm’s portfolio of private equity funds, consisting of the BDCM Opportunity Funds II, III, IV, and V, with a combined $4 billion in capital. Mr. Cohen has more than 25 years of private equity experience most recently as managing director and co-head of Carlyle Equity… Read More 
Pharos Adds Two Hospices to Platform
Charter Health Care Group, a post-acute care provider platform owned by Pharos Capital Group since October 2018, has acquired St. Luke’s Home Hospice and Arizona Select Hospice from VeraCare Hospice. Las Vegas-based St. Luke’s and Tempe-based Arizona Select both provide end-of-life hospice care along with palliative care services for adult patients with life-limiting illnesses. Charter… Read More
Monomoy Buys Mac Papers
Monomoy Capital Partners has acquired Mac Papers and its subsidiary All Square Digital Solutions (together Mac Papers). Mac Papers, with annual revenues of more than $600 million, is a wholesale distributor of paper, packaging, envelope products, wide-format inkjet printers, and other digital print media products. Mac Papers is a third-generation… Read More
H&F Buys Checkmarx
Hellman & Friedman has agreed to acquire software security focused Checkmarx from Insight Partners at a valuation of $1.15 billion. Insight Partners will continue to own a minority interest in the business. Checkmarx develops software that is used to identify, fix and block security vulnerabilities in web and mobile applications. The Tel Aviv-based company has… Read More
Hilary Fleischer Promoted to Partner
Strattam Capital has promoted Hilary Fleischer to partner. Ms. Fleischer joined Strattam during the firm’s launch in 2014, prior to its first investment or fund, and in that time has led several successful platform investments and add-on acquisitions. “We are thrilled to announce Hilary’s promotion,” said Bob Morse, Strattam’s founding manager partner… Read More
LUX Global Label Acquires Labelworx
LUX Global Label, a portfolio company of Resilience Capital Partners, has acquired Labelworx. Labelworx is a provider of digital labels and packaging products and is also a distributor of labeling systems made by Herma, CTM, EAM, Zebra, Sato and Tharo. The company was co-founded in 2004 by President Jack Lang and is headquartered near Philadelphia… Read More
Argand Acquires Midwest Can
Argand Partners has acquired Midwest Can Company and its subsidiary Container Specialties (together Midwest Can) from GenNx360 Capital Partners. Midwest Can is a manufacturer of portable fuel containers (PFCs), funnels, drain pans and spouts that are used to handle, store and dispense flammable liquids such as gas, diesel and kerosene. The company’s products are used… Read More
Watervale Closes on Duke Buy
Watervale Equity Partners has acquired Duke Manufacturing, a contract manufacturer of precision metal components. Duke Manufacturing’s products – made from Inconel (a nickel-chromium-based superalloy), Hastelloy (a nickel-molybdenum-chromium superalloy), L605 (a cobalt-chromium-tungsten-nickel superalloy), titanium, and stainless steel – are used… Read More
AEI Hires Homeland Security Boss
AE Industrial Partners (AEI) has added Kevin McAleenan to its team as an operating partner. Mr. McAleenan most recently served as the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from April 2019 through November 2019. As head of Homeland Security, he managed 240,000 employees in eight operational agencies including U.S. Customs and… Read More
HKW’s Xirgo Acquires Owlcam
Xirgo Technologies, a portfolio company HKW, has acquired the assets of Owlcam. HKW acquired Xirgo in December 2016. Palo Alto-based Owlcam is a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology used in vehicle-based cameras to monitor, record, and report on stationary and mobile activities. Owlcam’s technology is used to minimize incidents involving poor driver behavior, reduce… Read More 
Grey Mountain Adds Birds to Bees
Mann Lake, a portfolio company of Grey Mountain Partners, has acquired Stromberg’s Unlimited. Stromberg’s is a provider of supplies and equipment used for the breeding, rearing and management of poultry and small animals. The company’s network of hatcheries and breeders offer over 200 breeds and varieties of birds as eggs, chicks or… Read More
Compass Diversified Buys Marucci
Publicly-traded Compass Diversified Holdings has agreed to acquire Marucci Sports for $200 million. Marucci Sports is a manufacturer and distributor of baseball and softball equipment including wood and metal bats, apparel, batting and fielding gloves, and bags and protective gear. Company-owned brand names include Marucci and… Read More
Golder Hawn Buys Machine Tool Dealer
Goldner Hawn has acquired Concept Machine Tool Sales, a distributor of machining, automation and measuring equipment. Concept Machine Tool (CMT) sells new and used machine tools (CNC machining centers, grinders and lathes), measuring-inspection equipment (microscopy scopes, gages, and surface testers), stamping-equipment (laser and water jet… Read More
Best Practices in GP-led Secondaries to Keep Regulators and LPs Happy
A fast-evolving secondary market provides a wonderful variety of paths to liquidity for your portfolio companies. But for the unwary, there are pitfalls. Join us on Thursday, March 26 from 11 AM to 12:15 PM ET for a special 75-minute webinar to learn the latest strategies for keeping regulators on your side in GP-led secondaries... Click HERE for more.
Today's Great Quote



“The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Do you understand?” – Captain Jack Sparrow

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Private Equity Professional has been serving the private equity industry since 2007 and is published by Sun Business Media, LLC. Questions or comments? Email our publisher John McNulty at John@peprofessional.com.