LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Aurora Capital Partners (“Aurora”), a leading middle-market private equity firm, today announced that it has acquired Universal Pure Holdings, LLC (“Universal Pure” or the “Company”), the largest independent provider of high pressure processing (“HPP”) and related food safety and technical services for cold chain-oriented human and pet food customers.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2001, Universal Pure is the HPP partner of choice to food, beverage, and pet food manufacturers in North America and pairs that leadership position with an unrivaled suite of value-added services, including cold storage, bottling, kitting and assembly, dry aging, tempering, and inventory management.  HPP is a unique technology that utilizes water and pressure to inactivate food-borne pathogens without the use of chemicals or other additives while also dramatically extending product shelf life without compromising nutritional value, taste, or texture.  The Company’s footprint includes eight facilities positioned nationwide across major shipping lanes and distribution centers in the U.S.

“Universal Pure has an exceptional track record of growth built around a culture of customer service,” said Randy Moser, Partner at Aurora.  “Best-in-class service and a long-tenured track record combined with the largest footprint in North America uniquely positions Universal Pure in a rapidly growing industry.  We see significant opportunity to build on that position and the Company’s success and look forward to accelerating growth through organic expansion and its experienced acquisition program.”

“Universal Pure is an ideal match for the Aurora program,” said Mark Rosenbaum, Partner at Aurora.  “Jeff and his team have built an impressive platform, and we are excited to capitalize on the significant runway that the business has through new and existing relationships with blue chip customers.  We are thrilled to be chosen as Universal Pure’s partner at an exciting time in its evolution.”

“Aurora has a well-deserved reputation of partnering with management teams to help accelerate growth,” said Jeff Williams, CEO of Universal Pure.  “We are confident they are the right partner for Universal Pure at this stage of its development, and with their partnership, we are excited to continue adding to the solutions we offer our customers and to execute on our many growth initiatives.”

This transaction marks the eighth investment from Aurora Equity Partners VI, which was activated in September 2020.  It follows several recent Aurora investments within the broader Industrial Technologies sector, including Pace, Spray-Tek, Cold Chain Technologies, and Inhance Technologies.

William Blair and Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisors and Mayer Brown LLP served as legal advisor to Universal Pure on the transaction. Harris Williams served as financial advisor and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal advisor to Aurora.  Twin Brook Capital Partners led the debt financing in support of the transaction.

About Aurora Capital Partners
Aurora Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm focused principally on control investments in middle-market companies with leading market positions, stable industry dynamics, attractive business model characteristics and actionable opportunities for growth in partnership with management. Aurora provides unique resources to its portfolio companies through its Strategy & Operations Program and its team of experienced operating advisors. Aurora’s investors include leading public and corporate pension funds, endowments and foundations active in private equity investing. For more information about Aurora Capital Partners, visit: www.auroracap.com.

About Universal Pure
Universal Pure is the market leading provider of outsourced high pressure processing, food safety & technical supply chain services across the cold chain that ensure the safety and nutritional value of food & beverage products.  The company is the largest independent provider of high pressure processing in North America.  Universal Pure operates 20 HPP machines across a strategic facility network of locations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.  Through its facility footprint, totaling 1.1 million square feet, Universal delivers an integrated solution and is a trusted partner in HPP, refrigerated and frozen storage, beverage bottling, kitting and assembly, tempering, and other value-added cold chain services.  Learn more at http://www.universalpure.com.

Aurora Media Contact
Taylor Ingraham / Harriet Hartman
ASC Advisors
203-992-1230
tingraham@ascadvisors.com / hhartman@ascadvisors.com

SOURCE Aurora Capital Partners

Frankfurt am Main, November 2022. As part of a management buy-out Borromin Capital Fund IV has acquired a stake in Eberle Controls GmbH (EBERLE). The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the acquisition.
EBERLE is a leading German provider of innovative heating and air conditioning solutions for private households as well as public and commercial buildings. The company’s focus is on energy efficient temperature control and the technical electric installation products required for this. From its site in Nuremberg the company covers the entire value chain from R&D and component procurement to assembly, testing, sales, warehousing, and after-sales services. Together with EBERLE’s management, who acquired a stake in the company as part of the transaction, Borromin will support the geographical expansion of the company and the ongoing strategic development of the group and its employees.
Marco Bernecker, Managing Partner at Borromin: “EBERLE’s business development has been impressive. We were convinced by its management’s passion for high-quality, innovative, and sustainably produced products. Due to the increasing importance of energy-saving solutions in the field of heating and air-conditioning technology and with its more than 90 years of expertise in temperature control, we believe that the company is very well positioned. We are convinced that EBERLE will have excellent growth opportunities in the future, both organically and through acquisitions.”
Norddeutsche Landesbank supports the transaction with acquisition financing and a working capital facility.

EBERLE
EBERLE was established in 1932 as a specialist for industry relays. Since then, the company has developed a strong focus on temperature control solutions and is today the market leader for innovative heating and air conditioning solutions in Germany. With a product range of approximately 560 products,
the company and its 160 people serve both OEMs as well as electrical and plumbing wholesalers. EBERLE’s customers especially appreciate the high quality and reliability of their products which undergo a fully automated inspection and testing process prior to shipment.

BORROMIN
Borromin is an independent private equity company focusing on medium-size businesses within German speaking Europe and Benelux countries. Funds initiated and advised by Borromin invest in mid-size companies providing equity for succession issues, management buy-outs and also provide capital for growth opportunities. Borromin was founded in 2001 and follows a successful, value-oriented strategy of investments in profitable companies in various sectors.
Borromin Capital Fund IV (Borromin Capital Fund IV SCS, SICAV-RAIF) benefits from the financial backing of the European Union under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (“EFSI”) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe. The purpose of EFSI is to help support financing and implementing productive investments in the European Union and to ensure increased access to financing.

CONTACT
Regarding this transaction
Marco Bernecker Dr. Marc Schilling
Managing Partner Investment Professional / Prokurist Borromin Capital Management GmbH Borromin Capital Management GmbH
+49 69 50685-250 +49 69 50685-310
bernecker@borromin.com schilling@borromin.com

18/10/2022 – 07:30 | Portfolio

Grundströms Plåt i Kiruna is a profitable ventilation company and sheet metal workshop. The company carries out ventilation projects in renovations, expansions and new construction for companies in the mining industry as well as for construction projects and existing properties. The acquisition has expanded airteam’s geographic presence and customer base, thereby broadening its offering to the industry.

The acquisition is in line with the Nordic ventilation giant airteam’s strategy to strengthen its presence in the Swedish market, and is in line with Ratos’s acquisition strategy, in which both smaller and larger add-on acquisitions in existing companies play an important role.

“airteam is continuing its journey of growth in Sweden, and with this acquisition it is taking an additional step towards the goal of being the Nordic region’s leading specialist in ventilation projects. It’s particularly exciting that the Ratos companies SSEA and NVBS, which operate in construction and infrastructure maintenance, respectively, already operate in the region. This will allow airteam to hit the ground running with excellent partnership opportunities,” says Christian Johansson Gebauer, Chairman of the Board of airteam and President, Business Area Construction & Services, Ratos.

“This acquisition is strategically important for airteam. We are convinced that there is a clear opening in the Swedish market for a leading, modern and sustainable ventilation company like airteam,” says Poul Pihlmann, President and CEO, airteam.

About airteam
airteam is a Nordic supplier of climate and ventilation solutions, with a market-leading position in the Danish home market and strong growth in the Swedish market. At airteam, value is created through a customer-oriented corporate culture with talented and dedicated employees who maintain strong relationships with customers and suppliers. Ratos is the majority owner.

For further information, please contact
Josefine Uppling, VP Communication, Ratos, +46 76 114 54 21
Poul Pihlmann, President and CEO, airteam, +45 40 64 09 71

About Ratos
Ratos is a business group consisting of 15 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer and Industry. In total 2021, the companies have approximately SEK 26 billion in net sales. Our business concept is to own and develop companies that are or can become market leaders. We have a distinct corporate culture and strategy – everything we do is based on our core values: Simplicity, Speed in execution and It’s All About People. We enable independent companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas.

Green Theme’s water free technology removes PFAS and other harmful chemicals from textile manufacturing to provide better performance with less pollution

Albuquerque, New Mexico:Green Theme Technologies Inc (GTT), the global leader in water-free and PFAS-free textile finishing, is proud to announce $5.4 million dollars raised in its series B2 financing.

This influx of capital will be used to grow GTT’s revolutionary water-free EMPEL™ performance technologies, which now include the best durable water repellent (DWR) finish in the market, stain protection, a new technology to keep footwear dry, and the ongoing joint development of water-free dye (WFD) with market leading mill and brand partners. The unique technology uniformly fuses PFAS-free chemistries to each fiber in a fabric. EMPEL™ treated fabrics far exceed the performance of other competitive C0 and C6 products in the market.

“We are very pleased with the engaged support from a knowledgeable investment team like Cottonwood Technology Fund that understands GTT technology and wants to create solutions for the growing environmental pollution created by textile manufacturing,” said Martin Flora, VP of Business Development with GTT. “Legislation like the recent California Bill (AB 1817) signed into law last month banning PFAS chemistries in textiles by 2025 are driving mills and brands to adopt the GTT EMPEL™ solution more rapidly. In addition to legislative pressure, textile manufacturers and apparel brands are starting to realize that inefficient traditional water-based textile dyeing and finishing methods are extremely wasteful in energy, create huge amounts of water pollution, remediation costs and deliver inferior performance compared to GTT’s EMPEL ™ water-free processes.”

The lead investor in the series B2 round; Cottonwood Technology Fund focuses on disruptive science-based inventions. “Cottonwood invests in hard science and deep tech start-ups that are poised to disrupt large markets,” said David Blivin, Managing Partner with Cottonwood. “We see real opportunity with Green Theme to become the new global industry standard for high performance, low impact textile finishing, which is why we are proud to invest in them.”

GTT also has the support from other expert investment groups like Phoenix Venture Partners that targets advanced material science technologies, Safer Made focused on cleaner chemistry technologies to bring safer products to the market and Sun Mountain Capital, a leading private investment firm in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions, also participated in the round. The fast-growing textile and fashion industries are currently the second largest water polluters on Earth and Green Theme’s business model intends to change that. By replacing traditional water-based wet textile finishing processes with efficient and water-free and PFAS -free EMPEL technology, GTT and their licensing partners are directly reducing the amount of water pollution in the world. The result is cleaner, better performing, and more sustainable textile products.

About Green Theme Technologies
Green Theme Technologies, Inc. is a textile innovation company with the mission to create products that out-perform existing technologies while eliminating toxic chemicals, water usage, and pollution. Visit https://greenthemetek.com/ for more information.

About Cottonwood Technology Fund
Cottonwood Technology Fund is a top-decile performing early-stage venture capital fund. Its investment focus is on hard science and deep tech, providing (pre-)seed and early-stage funding to IP-driven companies. Cottonwood makes impact investments in Key Enabling Technologies such as Photonics, Micro- & Nanoelectronics, Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, Medical Technology, Climate Tech, Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics. Cottonwood recently launched its third fund focused on startups from Northwest Europe and Southwest USA, regions with numerous national laboratories, major research universities and research centers.

Current and prior investments include Skorpios Technologies, Sarcos Robotics (NASDAQ: STRC), Exagen (NASDAQ: XGN), BayoTech, Sencure, Infinitum Electric, Flexiramics, FibeRio (acquired by Clarcor), xF Technologies, TriLumina (acquired by Lumentum), SoundEnergy, OPNT, BioFlyte, Circular Genomics and SmartNanotubes Technologies.
Visit https://www.cottonwood.vc for more information.

• EQT Private Equity has sold its stake in GPA Global, a packaging services provider with operations across North America, Europe, and Asia, to Ontario Teachers’
• Under EQT Private Equity’s tenure, GPA Global has transformed from an Asia-focused consumer electronics packaging specialist, into a global packaging platform serving a well-diversified mix of customers and end-markets
• The sale of GPA Global represents another successful exit for EQT Private Equity in Asia and further cements EQT’s overall momentum in APAC

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Asia III fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has completed the sale of its co-control stake in GPA Global (“GPA” or the “Company”) to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (“Ontario Teachers’”).

Founded in 2007, GPA Global is a global packaging services provider. The Company offers a comprehensive suite of end-to-end services across the packaging value chain; including prototyping, design, vendor management, production and supply chain logistics. GPA provides these services to some of the world’s most well-known brands, and has more than 600 customers across the beverage, consumer electronics, healthcare, beauty and jewelry end-markets.

Since EQT Private Equity’s investment in 2017, GPA has substantially expanded its capability set and geographic footprint, and transitioned from an Asian focus into a global platform operating across North America, Europe and Asia. Over the five year period, the Company has grown its operating base from a single office in Asia to 31 global offices and facilities, including four in-house production facilities, and expanded its employee base from around 150 to 2,000 today.

GPA’s expansion has partly been enabled by the successful completion of seven strategic add-on acquisitions. These acquisitions served to diversify the Company’s revenue base, enhance its global manufacturing capabilities, and elevate its ability to deliver a differentiated value proposition to customers.

To support its rapid growth, GPA also invested heavily in building a deep management bench with the appropriate skill-set to help future-proof its operations. This included on-boarding regional heads in North America and Europe following relevant acquisitions in those markets, and also bolstering functional senior leadership in the areas of finance, HR, digital and sustainability.

Tom Wang, Co-Founder and President of GPA said, “GPA has undergone a transformation over the past five years, from an Asia-centric consumer electronics packaging specialist, into its position today as a truly global packaging platform that has a strong market position across a diversified mix of attractive end-markets. EQT has been instrumental in supporting this journey and have been great partners in the development of our business.”

Adam Melton, Co-Founder and CEO of GPA commented, “The growth GPA has achieved over the past five years is a testament to our differentiated value proposition in the packaging market. Our amazing global team bring innovation, customer-centricity and a nimble mindset to help our customers’ unique products shine in a crowded marketplace. Our whole team have enjoyed the partnership with EQT, and are equally excited about our future with Ontario Teachers’.”

David Forde, Managing Director within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said, “GPA is a great example of how EQT can partner with founder management teams to unlock the full potential of their business, and support their global expansion ambitions. In addition to growing earnings five-fold over the investment period, GPA has also thoughtfully laid the foundations for sustained long-term growth through a continued broadening of its capability set, geographic presence and addressable end-markets.”

Evercore acted as financial advisor to GPA Global and EQT Private Equity on the transaction, and Baker McKenzie as legal advisor to EQT Private Equity.

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 77 billion in assets under management as of 30 June 2022, across 36 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 280,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About GPA Global
More info: www.gpaglobal.net

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