Airxcel’s HVAC Group Renamed AirX Climate Solutions, a Specialized HVAC Company, Well-Positioned to Consolidate a Large and Fragmented Industry

Greenwich, Conn. and Elkhart, Ind. – September 1, 2021 – L Catterton, the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm, today announced that its portfolio company Airxcel has sold its RV Group to THOR Industries, Inc. (NYSE: THO) (“THOR”) for an all-cash purchase price of $750 million, subject to standard post-closing adjustments. Airxcel’s retained segment will become AirX Climate Solutions, Inc., a pure-play leader, designer, manufacturer, and distributor of the most functionally critical products for specialty HVAC markets.

Since partnering with Airxcel in 2018, L Catterton has worked with CEO Jeff Rutherford and his team to advance the Company’s innovation pipeline with the launch of 55 new products, while also executing meaningful operational improvements across manufacturing, engineering, procurement, and logistics. In addition, L Catterton supported Airxcel in acquiring market leaders within the RV space, including CAN, a European manufacturer of cooking appliances, Cleer Vision, a manufacturer of windows and glass, and Aqua Hot, a designer and manufacturer of hydronic heating systems. These acquisitions have enhanced Airxcel’s best-in-class product offerings and extended its reach, particularly in Europe. Most recently, L Catterton and Airxcel have leveraged the Company’s unique global supply chain and domestic manufacturing capabilities to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and deliver significant market share growth across all product lines, including significant continued growth within OEM.

“This transaction represents a great outcome for Airxcel, L Catterton and THOR,” said Marc Magliacano, a Managing Partner in L Catterton’s Flagship Fund. “Over the last three years, our partnership with Jeff has driven significant growth across Airxcel’s business, expanding to new products and services, completing multiple strategic acquisitions, and driving increased market share across all of Airxcel’s product lines. We know the THOR team well, having previously sold Heartland RV to THOR in 2010, and we’re confident that Airxcel’s RV business will thrive under their ownership. We are excited to support the ongoing success of the HVAC business as a standalone company. We would like to thank all the Airxcel associates for their tremendous contribution.”

“L Catterton played an invaluable role in our growth story, and we’re grateful for their partnership,” said Jeff Rutherford, CEO of Airxcel. “With their deep operational experience, L Catterton helped position Airxcel as the leading supplier of trusted brands for the RV and HVAC markets. We look forward to building upon these achievements as we enter this exciting next chapter, with the RV Group joining THOR and the HVAC Group becoming a standalone company. I would like to thank all the associates at Airxcel for their relentless commitment to success.”

Airxcel’s Specialty HVAC Group to Become AirX Climate Solutions, Inc.
With this transaction, Airxcel’s specialty HVAC Group will become a standalone, pure-play HVAC leader, AirX Climate Solutions, Inc. (“ACS”). ACS will have a portfolio of premier brands such as Marvair, Industrial Climate Engineering (“ICE”), Suburban AP, Eubank, and Custom Air Products & Services (“CAPS”). With the continued support of L Catterton, ACS will continue to extend its leadership as a committed and preferred partner to a broad range of specialty HVAC clients. ACS will be led by Rick Aldridge, currently President of the Specialty HVAC Group at Airxcel.

“With this transaction, we’re positioning ACS as a leader – and consolidator – in a highly fragmented space,” said Matt Lischick, Partner at L Catterton. “We see tremendous market expansion opportunities within Specialty HVAC given continued focus on air quality and purification, as well as accelerated investment in ACS’ end customer segments, such as telecom infrastructure and energy storage. We look forward to continuing to invest in the business and extending our partnership with Rick and the talented ACS team to drive innovation and value creation.”

Rick Aldridge, President of the AirX Climate Solutions group at Airxcel, said, “Over the last several years, we have successfully extended our reach and offerings both organically and through acquisitions, most recently adding valuable new end customer segments and expanding our service capabilities through our acquisition of CAPS. With a premier brand lineup and the support of L Catterton, ACS will have a strong platform and foundation from which to accelerate our growth. We look forward to continued expansion as we enhance our portfolio to bring more high-quality HVAC offerings to customers.”

The Company retained Baird to serve as lead financial advisor to Airxcel, with William Blair, Jefferies, and Nomura also serving as co-advisors. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Airxcel.

About Airxcel

Airxcel began in 1991 as a divesture of the Coleman RV Air Conditioner division. The company has continued to grow through innovative product development, market expansion, and strategic acquisitions. The Airxcel RV Group provides industry-leading products in recreational vehicle heating, cooling, ventilation, cooking, windows, window covering, side wall, and roofing materials under the current brands: Aqua-Hot, CAN, Coleman-Mach, Dicor Products, United Shade, Vixen Composites, Maxxair, MCD, Cleer Vision, and Suburban. The Airxcel specialty HVAC Group (“AirX Climate Solutions”) provides highly engineered cooling and ventilation solutions for telecommunications, energy development and storage, and education/multi-tenant housing industries under the brands: Marvair, Eubank, Industrial Climate Engineering (ICE), Suburban Applied Products, and CAPS. Airxcel’s 2,000-plus employees are based in eight facilities across the U.S. and Europe, where they design, manufacture, and distribute products all over the world. www.Airxcel.com

About L Catterton

With approximately $30 billion of equity capital across its fund strategies and 17 offices around the world, L Catterton is the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm. L Catterton’s team of nearly 200 investment and operating professionals partners with management teams around the world to implement strategic plans to foster growth, leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad partnership network. Since 1989, the firm has made over 250 investments in leading consumer brands. For more information about L Catterton, please visit lcatterton.com.

L Catterton Contacts:
Andi Rose / Tanner Kaufman
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell Reedy Industries (“Reedy” or the “Company”), a leading provider of commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (“HVAC”), to Partners Group, acting on behalf of its clients. Audax will continue to be an investor in the Company and remain on the Company’s board of directors. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1930, Reedy Industries serves commercial, industrial, and municipal buildings in the United States through its HVAC services, mechanical building automation, controls, and energy solutions. With 9,000 customers and nearly 5,000 preventative maintenance contracts, Reedy helps its customers reduce maintenance costs, optimize asset performance and improve energy efficiency to create healthier, more cost-effective environments. Through an active expansion strategy led by Reedy’s highly experienced management team, the company expanded into a multi-regional platform serving the Midwest, Mountain West, South, and Southeast regions.

Since Audax’ investment in 2019, Reedy has undergone a period of growth and transformation, which included:
* Completing 15 add-on acquisitions to date to create a multi-regional commercial HVAC and building controls platform diversified across end-markets, customers, geographies, and service lines;
* Building a world-class management team; and
* Investing in technology and infrastructure to support the company’s long-term growth.

Don Bramley, Managing Director at Audax, said, “The Reedy team has built an exceptionally strong business. We are proud to have partnered with management and supported the company’s growth during this pivotal time. We strongly believe Reedy is setting the standard for premier commercial and industrial building services and wish Joe and the entire Reedy team continued success on their next phase of growth with Partners Group.”

Joe Kirmser, CEO of Reedy Industries, said, “The Audax team has been an incredible partner over the past two years. With their support we have executed numerous add-on acquisitions to further our mission of providing high-quality service to our customers, and, we believe, position Reedy for sustainable, long-term growth. We are thankful for Audax’ partnership, which has been instrumental in driving our geographic expansion, and look forward to continuing to execute on our strategy alongside Partners Group.”

Truist served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to Audax and Reedy.

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has acquired a controlling interest in Solve Industrial Motion Group (“Solve” or the “Company”), a leading provider of high-quality power transmission components and industrial-grade bearings, from Incline Equity Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Solve is a leading manufacturer and value-added service provider of highly engineered, specialty bearings and other power transmission and drive components. The company offers a portfolio of globally sourced specialty products across its P.T. International, IPTCI Bearings, and LMS Bearing brands. Solve’s comprehensive supply catalog, coupled with its refined supply chain, certified quality control, competitive pricing, custom offerings, and unparalleled customer service has made it a trusted partner to distributors and OEM customers since 1994.

“Today’s milestone affirms our strong go-to-market strategy and brand evolution,” said Lisa Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of Solve. “With Audax’ support, knowledge, and expertise, we hope to drive further global expansion into the broader power transmission and electric motion markets. We are excited to begin this next chapter of growth.”

“We believe Solve is well-positioned to capture additional market share with OEMs and distributors globally through organic growth opportunities and strategic acquisitions,” said Don Bramley, Managing Director of Audax, “We are thrilled to be partnering with the company’s highly-experienced management team to help take the business to the next level.”

Joe Rogers, Managing Director of Audax, added, “Solve is a long-standing leader in the bearings and power transmission space with a highly diversified product portfolio across key industries. We look forward to supporting the Company as it continues to serve as a preeminent end-to-end resource to its customers.”

Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel to Audax.

Topic: Investment

• The German WDM Group, a leading supplier of customised, spot-welded wire mesh solutions, and the German Deutenberg Group, a producer of high-quality bent wire components, join forces

• The partnership will reinforce the market leadership in the field of special industrial wire mesh, and aims to expand the product portfolio and manufacturing expertise

Wolfshagen and Ense/Höingen, 1 July 2021 – WDM Wolfshagener Draht- und Metallverarbeitung, a portfolio company of the private equity firm Cross, and Deutenberg are merging to form a European market leader for customised, spot-welded wire mesh solutions, bent wire components, wire mats, and grid mesh components. The private equity firm Gimv joins as an additional shareholder with a minority stake in the new WDM/Deutenberg Group.

Founded in 1994 and based in the German state of Brandenburg, WDM produces 35,000 spot-welded wire mesh units per day. Its core competence lies primarily in the production of customised, special industrial mesh. WDM’s customers include renowned companies in sectors such as construction, industry, trade, logistics and livestock farming. WDM was acquired in early 2018 by Cross, a private equity firm specialising in succession planning, and has since pursued a focused expansion strategy: At the end of 2019, the acquisition of Midrahtec Drahtwaren based in Leisnig, Germany, marked an important step on this growth journey, bringing both additional expertise in advanced 3D-forming and -welding processes as well as a new location to WDM Group.

Deutenberg, a family business based in Ense in Germany’s Sauerland region, has more than 60 years of experience as a specialist in the development and production of high-quality wire products for sectors such as industry, architecture, retail and shopfitting. The group is an ideal complement for WDM, both in terms of product offering as well as end markets served. With Deutenberg, WDM strengthens its position as a leading supplier of wire mesh solutions and expands both its product portfolio and manufacturing expertise. The long-standing experience of both companies in producing wire products will enable the combined group to drive innovations in this area even more effectively in the future.

Dr Michael Petersen, Managing Partner at Cross Equity Partners AG and Chairman of the Board of the new WDM/Deutenberg Group, says: “The acquisition of Deutenberg as part of a family succession solution is another milestone in WDM’s growth journey and enables us to cover the end markets even better.”

Ronald Bartel, Partner at Gimv‘s Smart Industries team in Munich, explains: “Combining WDM and Deutenberg creates a clear European market leader and enables the two companies to jointly respond even better to customer-specific requests and offer larger quantities.”

Ernst Hüffmeier, CEO of WDM, adds: “The merger with Deutenberg is a significant step for us. We look forward to working with their experienced management team to provide even better solutions to our customers.”