New York City-based Irving Place Capital (IPC), a middle-market private equity firm, announced Friday that it has completed its acquisition of Ohio Transmission Corporation (OTC), a technical distributor of highly engineered motion control, pump and air compressor products, and No. 42 on Industrial Distribution's 2015 Big 50 List. Terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 1963 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, OTC serves more than 11,000 customers across diverse end-markets. The company’s primary product offerings include pumps, bearings, power transmission, factory automation, and compressed air products and related services. OTC’s geographic footprint includes 23 branch locations in 12 states.
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"Ohio Transmission Corporation’s long-standing focus on providing technical solutions and support to its customers and suppliers is a differentiated approach in the industrial distribution sector, and one that has resulted in consistent growth throughout its history," said Devraj Roy, Partner at Irving Place Capital in a release. "We look forward to partnering with the management team to continue to build on this strong foundation."
OTC had $250 million in 2014 revenue, improving on 2013's $206 million.
IPC said the members of OTC’s management team, led by CEO Phil Derrow, will continue in their current roles and will retain equity ownership in the business. Bob Grubbs, former CEO of Anixter International, will continue in his role as Chairman of OTC. Carlos Cardoso, former CEO of Kennametal and Senior Advisor at IPC, will also join the OTC Board of Directors.
"Over the past five decades, we have established a distribution business that offers technical and value-added solutions to our customers, delivers growth and market access to our supplier partners, and presents exciting career opportunities to our associates," stated Derrow in IPC's release. "Our partnership with Irving Place Capital in this next phase will give us access to greater resources and capabilities to continue our expansion, both organically and through acquisitions."
"I am thrilled to continue working with the OTC management team to help drive growth and profitability," said Mr. Grubbs. "Partnering with the Irving Place Capital team, with whom I have enjoyed a long-standing relationship, gives me the confidence that we will have an experienced and knowledgeable investor to support the company going forward."
In early August, OTC announced the acquisition of Galion, OH-based Buckeye Pumps.
