B. Riley FBR Serves as Exclusive Sell-Side Advisor to E.V. Roberts in its Sale to Graco Supply Company
July 08 2019 - 1:05PM
B. Riley FBR, Inc., a full service investment bank and a
wholly-owned subsidiary of B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:RILY),
today announced it served as the exclusive financial advisor to
E.V. Roberts in connection with its sale to Graco Supply Company
(“Graco”). B. Riley FBR initiated, structured and negotiated the
transaction on behalf of E.V. Roberts. The deal team was led by
Senior Managing Director Greg Presson, Director Chris Ankley, and
Analyst Grayson Largman.
The transaction positions the consolidated
company as the largest aerospace-focused specialty chemicals
distribution platform in North America. The combination of two
leading industry participants creates a full-service,
solutions-oriented distributor that is better positioned to support
the evolving needs of its customer and supplier partners by
providing access to a larger portfolio of products and services
across an expanded geographic footprint. As part of the
transaction, E.V. Roberts’ senior management team, comprised of CEO
Ron Cloud, EVP and VP of Sales John Vogt, and COO Allison Lombardo,
retained their leadership positions in the business and reinvested
to become shareholders in the consolidated company. Specific terms
of the transaction, which closed on April 30, 2019, were not
disclosed.
“The transaction is a great result for E.V.
Roberts as it provides meaningful liquidity, an attractive equity
position in the combined company and an opportunity to partner with
a leader in the specialty chemical distribution sector,” said Chris
Ankley, Director, B. Riley FBR. “The newly formed strategic
partnership is built on both parties’ shared goal of establishing
the premiere specialty chemicals distribution platform serving the
aerospace market and scaling through proprietary formulation
capabilities, new distribution channels, and product and vendor
diversification.”
E.V. Roberts, with an 80-year track record of
successfully distributing, formulating, and packaging specialty
chemicals to the aerospace and other advanced manufacturing
markets, provides significant growth channels for Graco. The
company maintains a world-class quality system and is an authorized
distributor for 3M, Henkel, Momentive, Resin Formulators, and Scott
Bader. E.V. Roberts was founded by Ernie Roberts in 1938 and
acquired by Cloud in 1997. The company will continue to operate out
of its Carson, CA facility and its leadership team will report to
Jason Caldwell, President and CEO of Graco.
“Graco represents the perfect partner for E.V.
Roberts. We share an appreciation for premium quality products,
longstanding customer relationships, and quality service. This is a
great opportunity for two leading brands to leverage each other’s
respective strengths and offer our customers and vendors an
expanded set of innovative solutions,” said Ron Cloud, CEO of E.V.
Roberts. “The B. Riley FBR team played a critical role in securing
the right partner and structuring a transaction that successfully
maximized shareholder value. They were the clear choice to
represent E.V. Roberts and I am exceptionally pleased with the
outcome.”
In connection with the newly formed partnership,
the companies plan to combine core competencies from both
organizations. Graco is positioned to benefit from E.V. Roberts’
time-honored reputation, proprietary formulation capabilities and
highly efficient distribution processes. E.V. Roberts is positioned
to benefit from Graco’s physical footprint, product lines, vendor
relationships and backing from private equity sponsor CM Equity
Partners. With approximately 150 employees, the combined company
will operate from Fort Worth with distribution and service centers
in every major aerospace hub, including the West (Carson and
Burbank, CA), Pacific Northwest (Kent, WA), Southeast/East (North
Carolina, Atlanta) and Central (Wichita, KS) regions.
“We are thrilled to have Ron Cloud and his
outstanding team join us in taking aerospace chemical distribution
to a new level," said Jason Caldwell, President and CEO, Graco.
"Bringing more products and services to our customers through our
combined channel is important. Unleashing the talent and expertise
of these two innovative teams with a strong aerospace chemical
distribution heritage is truly exciting.”
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
(www.morganlewis.com) served as legal counsel for E.V. Roberts and
Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP (squirepattonboggs.com) served as
legal counsel for Graco.
For more information on this transaction,
contact Greg Presson - gpresson@brileyfbr.com (949) 250-5500 or
Chris Ankley - cankley@brileyfbr.com (949) 250-5507.
About B. Riley FBR, Inc.B.
Riley FBR provides corporate finance, research and sales and
trading to corporate, institutional and high net worth individual
clients. Investment banking services include initial, secondary and
follow-on offerings, institutional private placements and merger
and acquisitions advisory services, and corporate restructuring.
The firm is nationally recognized for its highly ranked proprietary
equity research. B. Riley FBR is a subsidiary of B. Riley Financial
(NASDAQ:RILY). To learn more, visit www.brileyfbr.com.
Media Contact:Jo Anne
McCuskerMedia RelationsB. Riley
Financialjmccusker@brileyfin.com(646) 885-5425
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