LOS ANGELES, July 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- B. Riley FBR, Inc., a full service investment bank and a wholly-owned subsidiary of B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:RILY), today announced it served as the exclusive financial advisor to E.V. Roberts in connection with its sale to Graco Supply Company (“Graco”). B. Riley FBR initiated, structured and negotiated the transaction on behalf of E.V. Roberts. The deal team was led by Senior Managing Director Greg Presson, Director Chris Ankley, and Analyst Grayson Largman.
The transaction positions the consolidated company as the largest aerospace-focused specialty chemicals distribution platform in North America. The combination of two leading industry participants creates a full-service, solutions-oriented distributor that is better positioned to support the evolving needs of its customer and supplier partners by providing access to a larger portfolio of products and services across an expanded geographic footprint. As part of the transaction, E.V. Roberts’ senior management team, comprised of CEO Ron Cloud, EVP and VP of Sales John Vogt, and COO Allison Lombardo, retained their leadership positions in the business and reinvested to become shareholders in the consolidated company. Specific terms of the transaction, which closed on April 30, 2019, were not disclosed.
“The transaction is a great result for E.V. Roberts as it provides meaningful liquidity, an attractive equity position in the combined company and an opportunity to partner with a leader in the specialty chemical distribution sector,” said Chris Ankley, Director, B. Riley FBR. “The newly formed strategic partnership is built on both parties’ shared goal of establishing the premiere specialty chemicals distribution platform serving the aerospace market and scaling through proprietary formulation capabilities, new distribution channels, and product and vendor diversification.”
E.V. Roberts, with an 80-year track record of successfully distributing, formulating, and packaging specialty chemicals to the aerospace and other advanced manufacturing markets, provides significant growth channels for Graco. The company maintains a world-class quality system and is an authorized distributor for 3M, Henkel, Momentive, Resin Formulators, and Scott Bader. E.V. Roberts was founded by Ernie Roberts in 1938 and acquired by Cloud in 1997. The company will continue to operate out of its Carson, CA facility and its leadership team will report to Jason Caldwell, President and CEO of Graco.
“Graco represents the perfect partner for E.V. Roberts. We share an appreciation for premium quality products, longstanding customer relationships, and quality service. This is a great opportunity for two leading brands to leverage each other’s respective strengths and offer our customers and vendors an expanded set of innovative solutions,” said Ron Cloud, CEO of E.V. Roberts. “The B. Riley FBR team played a critical role in securing the right partner and structuring a transaction that successfully maximized shareholder value. They were the clear choice to represent E.V. Roberts and I am exceptionally pleased with the outcome.”
In connection with the newly formed partnership, the companies plan to combine core competencies from both organizations. Graco is positioned to benefit from E.V. Roberts’ time-honored reputation, proprietary formulation capabilities and highly efficient distribution processes. E.V. Roberts is positioned to benefit from Graco’s physical footprint, product lines, vendor relationships and backing from private equity sponsor CM Equity Partners. With approximately 150 employees, the combined company will operate from Fort Worth with distribution and service centers in every major aerospace hub, including the West (Carson and Burbank, CA), Pacific Northwest (Kent, WA), Southeast/East (North Carolina, Atlanta) and Central (Wichita, KS) regions.
“We are thrilled to have Ron Cloud and his outstanding team join us in taking aerospace chemical distribution to a new level," said Jason Caldwell, President and CEO, Graco. "Bringing more products and services to our customers through our combined channel is important. Unleashing the talent and expertise of these two innovative teams with a strong aerospace chemical distribution heritage is truly exciting.”
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (www.morganlewis.com) served as legal counsel for E.V. Roberts and Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP (squirepattonboggs.com) served as legal counsel for Graco.
For more information on this transaction, contact Greg Presson - gpresson@brileyfbr.com (949) 250-5500 or Chris Ankley - cankley@brileyfbr.com (949) 250-5507.
About B. Riley FBR, Inc.
B. Riley FBR provides corporate finance, research and sales and trading to corporate, institutional and high net worth individual clients. Investment banking services include initial, secondary and follow-on offerings, institutional private placements and merger and acquisitions advisory services, and corporate restructuring. The firm is nationally recognized for its highly ranked proprietary equity research. B. Riley FBR is a subsidiary of B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY). To learn more, visit www.brileyfbr.com.
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