LEXINGTON, Ky. — MiddleGround Capital, an operationally focused private equity firm that makes control investments in North American and European headquartered middle market B2B industrial and specialty distribution companies, announced that it has acquired IT8, a leading independent engineering services company offering mechanical, electrical, programming and construction services.
Headquartered in Valencia, Spain, IT8 offers programming, mechanical and electrical engineering services, as well as installation and site services, across both European and American markets. Founded in 2004, the company provides line automation engineering services for the automotive and intra-logistics industries with a core focus on Body in White welding lines serving OEMs both directly and in partnerships with automation or system integration players. In addition to its headquarters in Spain, IT8 serves key customers across five global locations in Spain, the United States, Mexico, Germany and India.
“As the industry advances in more highly engineered sectors like e-mobility, there is an increased need for more complex and technical automation capabilities,” said John Stewart, managing partner of MiddleGround. “We believe IT8’s highly technical team is well positioned to adapt and embrace these trends given their proven track record and unique positioning among system integrators.”
With close to a $2 billion addressable market for outsourced engineering services, IT8 is supported by strong underlying growth drivers within a highly fragmented sector. Leveraging its operational expertise, MiddleGround will work alongside IT8 to further expand service offerings beyond the automotive sector to other key markets including intra-logistics, commercial vehicles, and aerospace. Moreover, estimated revenue in the electric vehicle (“EV”) market has been projected to increase at a double-digit growth rate. PLC and robot programming, as well as mechanical design and electrical installations, will be at the core of creating the additional capacity needed to satisfy this anticipated excess demand and address this growth.
“Our team takes a creative approach and has worked extremely hard over the past two decades to be recognized for outstanding customer excellence, which has proven to be successful in achieving repeat business with our global client base,” said Salvador Sapiña, CEO at IT8. “We believe MiddleGround will be a great partner in guiding us through this next stage of expansion as we identify key growth drivers within industrial automation and continue to scale our robust manufacturing process.”
The addition of IT8 to MiddleGround’s portfolio marks the continuation of the firm’s commitment to its mobility thesis, which is defined by electrification and high complexity electronics within the mobility space. At the heart of this area of focus is the arrival of EVs as well as autonomous and connected technologies. To that end, IT8 is driving forward innovation within the mobility space by partaking in the electrification of the powertrain and lightweighting trends.
“We are thrilled to announce this acquisition, which marks our second platform deal in Europe, as this signifies our continued commitment to creating value within our core areas of expertise in Europe. We look forward to collaborating closely with the dedicated IT8 team and ensuring they have the necessary tools to benefit from underlying industry trends within a dislocated market,” said Alex van der Have, managing director, EU Transaction Team at MiddleGround. “By partnering with IT8, we will be able to reach new customers across key growth areas while simultaneously better addressing the more complex needs of the existing customer base.”
