NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#automotive—Lincolnshire Management, Inc. (“Lincolnshire”), a private equity firm focused on investing in and acquiring growing middle market companies across an array of industries, today announced the purchase of Whitewater Brands, LLC. (“Whitewater” or “the Company”) a leading national omnichannel marketer and supplier of productivity-enhancing consumables and light equipment to automotive collision shops and dealerships. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Caldwell, Idaho, Whitewater is a leading multi-brand omnichannel marketer and supplier of light equipment and productivity-enhancing and marketing consumables to the automotive collision, mechanical repair, and dealership industries with a national footprint. Whitewater’s vast set of product offerings includes over 69,000 SKU’s and addresses most of the daily needs of collision and mechanical repair shops. The Company goes to market through its collection of catalog brands including Collision Services, I/D/E/A, Sid Savage, Auto Body Toolmart, and Sole Source. Whitewater was founded in 2012 by its current owners through the merger of I/D/E/A (including Sole Source) and Collision Services. Sid Savage was acquired by Whitewater in 2015, followed by Auto Body Toolmart in 2018.
Whitewater markets and sells its products across various channels, including its in-house call center, its proprietary e-commerce sites, and online marketplaces. The Company also has facilities in Elgin, IL and Hudson, IA, where it performs sales and distribution and light manufacturing for its proprietary light equipment brands, ProLific and CHAMP.
“The Whitewater brands are well recognized in the collision repair community and their reputation positions them to be a promising platform for growth as a leader in a very large, broad, and highly fragmented market,” said T.J. Maloney, Chairman and CEO of Lincolnshire Management.
Lincolnshire Management Co-Managing Partners Philip Kim and Tad Nedeau led the transaction, which is the fifth platform investment in Lincolnshire Equity Fund V and follows the firm’s recent successful exit of Schumacher, a different fund V platform in the transportation sector. Additional deal team members included Tom Callahan, David Corbin, John Waldron, Matt Landolphi, and Chris Kostoglou.
“Lincolnshire has a track record of success investing in the transportation and transportation servicing industries so we bring significant experience and resources to Whitewater and the management team. This investment is a great addition to our portfolio, and the business is well positioned to capitalize on trends we see in the industry,” said Kim.
“Under our ownership, we believe Whitewater has the potential to aggressively grow sales, explore collaboration across its existing brands, and utilize the Lincolnshire operations team to execute recognized efficiencies. M&A will also be a priority,” Nedeau added.
Brown Gibbons Lang & Company LLC advised Whitewater on the transaction. PricewaterhouseCoopers, Greenberg Traurig, and Acclaro, advised Lincolnshire on the transaction.
About Lincolnshire Management, Inc.
Lincolnshire Management Inc., founded in 1986, is a private equity firm focused on investing in and acquiring growing middle-market companies across an array of industries. Headquartered in New York, Lincolnshire Management invests in acquisitions of private companies, recapitalizations, corporate divestitures, management buyouts and growth equity for public and private companies. Lincolnshire Management manages over $1.7 billion of private equity capital. For more information: www.lincolnshiremgmt.com.
About Whitewater Brands
Whitewater Brands, LLC. is a leading multi-brand omnichannel marketer and supplier of light equipment and productivity-enhancing and marketing consumables to the automotive collision, mechanical repair, and dealership industries. Whitewater also provides marketing consumables to the veterinary industry. The Company goes to market through a collection of five legacy catalog brands, namely Collision Services, I/D/E/A, Sid Savage, Auto Body Toolmart, and Sole Source
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