Abrasive Products & Equipment
Building a leading platform in the abrasive products industry
Project & Company Background
ShoreView was introduced to Abrasive Products & Equipment LLC (“APE”) in 2009. ShoreView structured a transaction that provided the owner-operators a meaningful liquidity event, while also giving them the opportunity to reinvest a sizable portion of their proceeds from the transaction. Due to prior industry experience, ShoreView was familiar with the company’s customer base and had a good understanding of the dynamics in the business. Post-closing, ShoreView provided the necessary capital to fund aggressive growth while assisting management in building out the company’s employee talent and improving the business’s infrastructure. During ShoreView’s partnership with management, revenue more than quadrupled and earnings more than tripled, resulting in strong returns for the equity holders.
Investment Summary
APE was founded in 2004 when management bought out a division of U.S. Filter Corp. At that time, the company was a regional provider of abrasive media and blasting equipment utilized in corrosion control and surface protection applications around refineries, chemicals plants, oil rigs, and shipyards. Having prior success with industrial services businesses, ShoreView was able to work with management to quickly develop and execute on a plan to grow the business.
Geographic Expansion
ShoreView and management worked together to aggressively expand geographically through four add-on acquisitions and three greenfield distribution facilities. Overall, APE entered 12 new markets in the Southeast and Texas.
Team Building
APE was led by a strong, but small group of talented owner-operators. As the platform grew, ShoreView worked with the management team to broaden and deepen the talent in the company. This included making several additions to the finance, sales, and marketing teams, which provided the owner-operators with the support they needed to successfully run a growing business.
Systems Improvement
The ShoreView-led board worked with management to evaluate and implement a new ERP system which provided APE the management reporting tools that supported the geographic and product line expansion during ShoreView’s investment period.
The results
During ShoreView’s four-year investment period, APE’s revenue more than quadrupled and earnings more than tripled. As such, the original owners of APE realized a very strong return on their rollover investment and the company was well positioned for long-term, stable growth for many years to come.