Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Closes Second Testing Service Provider Transaction in 30 Days with Sale of ACT
Brown Gibbons Lang & Company today announced the sale of the outsourced laboratory testing business of ACT Laboratories, Inc., a portfolio holding of The Riverside Company, to U.K.-based Bodycote International plc.
“The acquisition provides excellent synergy with Bodycote’s array of testing capabilities, allowing us to provide our customers with increased capacity and expertise,” said Ian Nicol, group operations director of Bodycote Material Testing in the U.S.
ACT, based in Wixom, Mich., is a preeminent full-service provider of outsourced product testing and related engineering services. The Company’s proprietary engineering techniques and testing methods allow its customers to maximize the quality, accuracy and speed of their research, development, quality and cost control programs. For more than 20 years, ACT developed strong relationships with leading companies in the specialty chemicals, military and transportation industries.
Timothy A. Gosline, a partner with Riverside’s Cleveland office said, “BGL’s in depth knowledge of the outsourcing business services and transportation industries, as well as its ability to conduct global auctions were critical to completing the transaction with Bodycote.”
“ACT is an example of the strong M&A activity we are seeing in business services, specifically outsourcing services,” said Nir Gabriely, director at Brown Gibbons Lang & Company. “This is the second testing and development service provider transaction that we have completed in a 30-day period. We previously announced the private debt and equity capital raise for the leveraged recapitalization of PRACS Institute, Ltd., a leading contract research organization providing clinical testing services for the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.”
Andrew Petryk, managing director and principal, led the BGL team.
About Bodycote International plc
The Bodycote Group is a world leader in the provision of vital metallurgical and testing services to industry; contract heat treatment, metal joining, hot isostatic processing, metallurgical coatings, materials testing services and the manufacture of components by powder metallurgy and hot isostatic pressing. Capitalised at £650M and with its headquarters in Macclesfield, the Group operates from locations in the UK, Europe, USA, the Middle East and Far East, with over 235 plants in 22 countries.
About the Riverside Company
The Riverside Company is the largest private equity firm focused on the smaller end of the middle market and is one of the industry’s most experienced leveraged buyout investors. Riverside specializes in premier companies with enterprise values of less than $100 million, and partners with strong management teams to build companies through acquisitions and value-added growth. Since 1988, the firm has invested in 126 transactions with a total value of $2.1 billion, sales of $2.4 billion, EBITDA of $263 million and more than 11,000 employees. Its current portfolio in the U.S. and Europe numbers 43. Riverside offers SureClose® (the highest certainty that a transaction will close) and the resources to complete acquisitions smoothly and in as little as 30 days – thanks to its sizeable pool of capital under management ($1.4 billion in six funds and growing), large staff in 10 offices (New York, Cleveland,<