AmesburyTruth divests assets of Schlegel Specialty Products to Right Lane Capital LLC
Client need
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Amesbury Industries, Inc. (d/b/a AmesburyTruth) is a leading supplier of engineered components to the door and window industry with manufacturing facilities across the U.S. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tyman plc, a United Kingdom-based supplier of components in the fenestration industry.
Schlegel Specialty Products (Schlegel), a product line of AmesburyTruth, is located in Rochester, New York and manufactures specialty woven and extruded plastic products for a variety of applications in automotive/transportation, copier/printer and other end markets.
When AmesburyTruth identified Schlegel as non-core to its building aperture strategy, the company made an official decision to proceed with a divestiture of the non-core business. Important to AmesburyTruth’s team was finding a buyer that had experience with non-core divestitures in order to help execute an expedient transaction. But even more importantly, while the divestiture would require Schlegel to move its plant operations from its current AmesburyTruth facility, the team wanted a buyer that would continue Schlegel’s current operations in Rochester and maintain its existing employee base.
Baker Tilly Capital solution
When AmesburyTruth was initially considering the divestiture of its Schlegel business unit, the investment banking team at Baker Tilly Capital provided initial advisory work for the potential transaction. Upon the official decision to proceed with the divestiture, our team mobilized quickly to bring the opportunity to market, working closely with AmesburyTruth to develop and implement a robust transaction process to find the right buyer. With a deep understanding of the manufacturing industry, the team focused on strategic and financial buyers that could meet the objectives set forth by AmesburyTruth while providing a reasonable sale price.
Results
As a result of the marketing process, Baker Tilly Capital identified Right Lane Capital LLC, a Chicago-based private investment firm, as a strategic fit. With extensive experience in acquiring non-core divestitures, Right Lane Capital had the ability to move expeditiously to close a transaction. Furthermore, the firm has experience in plant moves and desires to keep Schlegel’s operations in the Rochester area, maintaining nearly all current employees. The transaction process moved quickly and closed at the end of 2018.
Under new ownership, Schlegel will have a renewed focus on growth and continue to serve customers in the automotive/transportation and copier/printer industries, while leveraging its capabilities to expand products into new industries and customer bases.
Jeff Johnson, CFO, AmesburyTruthFrom the beginning, Baker Tilly Capital understood our organization’s goals in identifying a buyer for Schlegel, as well our desire to move quickly through the transaction process. Their knowledge of our industry and intense effort helped us achieve all of our objectives with regards to this divestiture.