Global Fastener News

May 19, 2014 FIN – Deal-making activity in the global fastener industry continued at a strong pace during 2013, consultant Richard Hagan summarized the year.

“By our count, there were a total of 29 fastener company acquisitions completed worldwide last year,” the president of Pinnacle Capital Corporation found.  “That number is closely comparable to the total of 31 fastener deals completed during 2012 and the 29 fastener deals completed during 2011.”
Thus far in 2014, “there have not been enough fastener deals completed to keep pace with the last three years,” Hagan said in releasing his Top Ten Deals of 2013.  “However, we do not anticipate a significant slowdown in deal activity.  There are numerous fastener company transactions pending and in-process at this time and we believe the appetite for deals by both buyers and sellers is healthy.”
Hagan has been compiling the Top Ten list annually since 1995.

2013 — Top Ten Deals of the Year

By Richard P. Hagan, Pinnacle Capital Corporation
(Arranged in chronological order)
1 – In February, the Hillman Companies Inc. purchased H. Paulin & Co. Limited.
Founded in 1920 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Paulin is a distributor and manufacturer of fasteners, fluid handling systems, automotive parts and retail hardware components.  Paulin has four manufacturing facilities located in Ontario, Canada, along with six distribution centers in Canada, Flint, MI, and Cleveland, OH.
Founded in 1964, Cincinnati, OH-based Hillman is a value-added distributor of fasteners, key duplication systems, engraved tags and related hardware.  Hillman’s customers include home improvement centers, hardware chains, and pet supply stores.  Hillman supplies over 20,000 retail customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America and Australia.  
Hillman is a portfolio company of Oak Hill Capital Partners, a NYC-based private equity firm.  Purchase price: CAN$103 million

2 – In February, Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) purchased Infastech Ltd.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Infastech manufactures and distributes engineered fasteners to the electronics, automotive, construction and general industrial markets.  The company’s brand names include: Avdel; Elco; iForm; Nacro; and Dril-Flex.
Infastech operates seven manufacturing facilities in the U.S., the UK, China, Taiwan, India and Malaysia and employs more than 2,000 people worldwide.  
Infastech generated net sales of approximately $580 million in 2012, with more than one-half of its revenue coming from the Asia / Pacific region.
Stanley Black & Decker manufactures hand tools, power tools, engineered fastening systems, mechanical access systems and electronic security solutions.
Infastech will be integrated with SWK’s Emhart Teknologies and the combined entity (now with annual net sales of approximately $1.5 billion) will be named Stanley Engineered Fastening.  Purchase price: $850 million

3 – In April, Elgin Fastener Group LLC purchased Vegas Fastener Manufacturing.  Founded in 1998, Las Vegas, NV-based VFM manufactures premium fasteners and made-to-print specialty parts, which are hot-forged or machined from stainless steel or “exotic” alloys.  
VFM supplies the power generation; ship building; environmental / pollution control; oil & gas refining; heavy construction; and heavy equipment industries.
EFG is now comprised of nine fastener manufacturing businesses and a metal finishing operation.  VFM is the first EFG business to produce hot-forged parts.  
EFG is a portfolio company of Audax Group, a Boston-based private equity firm.  Purchase price: Not available

4 – In April, MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc. (NYSE: MSM) purchased the  Barnes Distribution business unit of Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE: B).
Cleveland, OH-based  Barnes Distribution is a value-added distributor of fasteners and MRO supplies, with a strong footprint in the U.S. and Canada.   Barnes Distribution generated sales of $300 million in 2012.
Melville, NY-based MSC Industrial is a value-added distributor of metalworking and MRO supplies.  MSC Industrial operates primarily in the U.S., with four distribution centers and 106 sales offices.  In the 12 months ended September 1, 2012, MSC Industrial generated sales of $2.36 billion.  Purchase price: $550 million

5 – In April, EFC International Inc. was recapitalized by Quad-C Management Inc. in partnership with existing EFC ownership and senior management.
Founded in 1983, St. Louis, MO-based EFC is a value-added distributor of fasteners and assembly hardware to automotive and industrial OEMs and distributors.  
The company offers 40,000 SKUs of products, including: cold-headed fasteners; specialty clamps; panel fasteners; electrical wire management hardware; and stampings.  
EFC maintains four branch warehouses/sales offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Phoenix.
Based in Charlottesville, VA, Quad-C is a private equity firm.  Purchase price: Not available

6 – In June, Carlson Systems Holdings Inc. purchased Western Tool Supply. Founded in 1982, Salem, OR-based Western Tool Supply distributes fasteners and tools for construction, woodworking and industrial customers.  The company’s products include fasteners, power & hand tools, staplers and nailers.  Western Tool Supply operates 14 branches in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah and Montana.
Founded in 1947, Omaha, NE-based Carlson distributes product assembly systems for industrial and construction customers.  The company’s products includes fasteners, hand-held nailers & staplers, marking & labeling products, stretch/shrink wrappers and strappers.  
Carlson operates 52 branches in 22 states and Mexico.
Carlson is a portfolio company of Industrial Opportunity Partners LLC,  an Evanston, IL-based private equity firm.  Purchase price: Not available

7 – In a move senior management calls their “European Initiative,” Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. competed two UK acquisitions during the 4th quarter of 2013.
In October, Park-Ohio purchased Henry Halstead Ltd.
Founded in 1880, Preston, England-based Henry Halstead is a value-added distributor of fasteners and assembly hardware to OEMs. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, Henry Halstead generated net sales of $24 million.
In November, Park-Ohio purchased QEF Global Ltd.
Founded in 1989, Cork, Ireland-based QEF is a value-added distributor of fasteners and assembly hardware to OEMs in the electronics, medical devices, technology and industrial markets.  
QEF has branch offices in the U.S., Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, Hungary, Hong Kong and China.  
In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, QEF generated net sales of $14 million.
Headquartered in Cleveland, Park-Ohio (Nasdaq: PKOH) operates two business segments:  i) Diversified Manufacturing; and  ii) Supply Chain Management.
Henry Halstead and QEF became business units of Supply Technologies.  Purchase prices: Not available

8 – In October, Brighton-Best International purchased Porteous Fastener Co.
Founded in 1966, Santa Fe Springs, CA-based Porteous is a full-line fastener importer and stocking master distributor.  Porteous operates 16 branch warehouses in 12 states and in British Columbia, Canada.
Founded in 1965, Tainan, Taiwan-based Brighton-Best is an importer and stocking master distributor of socket screw products.  Brighton-Best operates 29 branch warehouses in the U.S. (19), Canada (3), Australia (4), New Zealand (1), Brazil (1) and the UK (1).
Brighton-Best is owned by a consortium of Taiwanese investors led by Ta Chen International Inc.  TCI is the US distribution arm of Ta Chen Stainless Pipe Ltd., (Taiwan Stock Exchange: 2027) a manufacturer of stainless steel pipe, tubing, fittings and valves.  Purchase price: Not available

9 – In October, TriMas Corp. (Nasdaq: TRS) purchased Mac Fasteners Inc.
Founded in 1989, Ottawa, KS-based Mac Fasteners manufactures stainless steel bolts for the commercial aerospace and defense markets.  Mac Fasteners operates from three manufacturing facilities in Ottawa (total of 55,000 sq ft) and a 25,000 sq ft facility in Paris, AR.  
The company supplies aerospace OEMs, MROs and military & commercial aerospace fastener distributors.  In the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013, Mac Fasteners generated sales of $17.5 million and employed 80 people.
Bloomfield Hills, MI-based TriMas manufactures engineered products for industrial, aerospace, commercial and consumer applications.  TriMas has 5,500 employees at more than 60 facilities and generated net sales of $1.27 billion in 2012.
Mac Fasteners became a business unit of TriMas’ aerospace and defense segment.
Purchase price: $34 million cash at closing, plus up to an additional $6 million based upon future results

10 – In October, Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE: PCP) purchased Permaswage SAS. Founded in 1938 as Deutsch Metal Components, Gardena, CA-based Permaswage designs and manufactures fluid fitting systems and related installation tooling for airframe applications. 
The company operates manufacturing facilities in Gardena, CA; Paris, France; and Suzhou, China.  Permaswage employs approximately 680 people worldwide and generated net sales of €120.5 million (US$165.2 million) in 2012.
Headquartered in Portland, OR, Precision Castparts manufactures structural & airfoil investment castings, complex forged components and fabricated components for the aerospace, power generation, transportation and industrial markets.  In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, Precision Castparts generated sales of $8.38 billion and employed 28,500 people.
Permaswage becomes a business unit of the Airframe Products segment of Precision Castparts, which also includes the company’s aerospace and industrial fastener operations.   Purchase price: $600 million

For further details on the transactions or information about the investment banking services provided by Pinnacle Capital, contact Richard P. Hagan – President, 79 Pine St., Front 6, New York, NY 10005.  Tel: 212 267-8200  Email: rphagan@pinnaclecapitalcorp.com 
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