Blackford Capital Portfolio Company Unimacts Announces Investment in Source International
IRVINE, CA – Blackford Capital, a California-based lower middle-market private equity firm announced today its investment in Source International (www.sourceint.com) through one of its portfolio companies, Unimacts (www.unimacts.com).
Source International (“Source”) is a global manufacturing outsourcing company that applies American management expertise to foreign manufacturing. Source began its operations in 1989 and established its first office in mainland China in the mid 1990s. The company has brought incredible growth and value opportunities to its customers since then. Source’s customers include some of the largest manufacturers in the U.S. as well as smaller, family-owned manufacturers that are leaders in their industry niche.
Tony Kiehn, Chairman of Unimacts and Source, expressed his thoughts on the future business opportunities with the new investment, “I am excited by the new prospects of this strategic partnership and look forward to working closely with existing and new management.” He further noted that “With Unimacts’ focus on industrial opportunities and Source’s capabilities in the consumer products sector the combined companies can expect unparalleled integration into the global outsourcing industry and exciting new horizons in the growth arena.”
Matt Arnold, CEO of the combined companies stated, “We could not be more pleased with how this partnership has worked out. We have two complementary businesses that are now even stronger together than they were separate.”
Rick Lykins, Jim Ullum, and Steve Ullum, will all continue to remain active in the business following the transaction. All three co-founders and co-owners of the business will maintain significant equity positions within the company. Their roles post transaction will remain the same as they have been prior to the strategic partnership with Blackford Capital and Unimacts. Mr. Lykins remarked, “We are excited about the resources that Blackford Capital and Unimacts bring to the table. They have assembled a robust team for the future, and I am confident that our customers and suppliers will find tremendous value in this new relationship. It’s a great move for the Source team because it allows us to expand the business and add new customers within the United States. We believe our partners in China will benefit significantly.”
John Mason, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Convergent Capital, who provided both mezzanine capital and an equity co-invest for the deal, expressed his support for the team. Mr. Mason said, “The Unimacts-Source combination has strong growth potential, and Convergent Capital is delighted to be part of this transaction. This is our first investment with Blackford, and we look forward to doing many more.”
Fifth Third Bank, Louisville was the senior debt financing provider and Cliff Krawiec, Vice President, Relationship Manager also commented on the transaction, “We were very pleased to work closely with Blackford Capital on this deal and were impressed with the level of due diligence and their management style throughout the entire process.”
Unimacts will continue to operate out of its Boston, MA location, and Source will remain in Louisville, KY, Cleveland, OH and Xiamen, China. The team anticipates expanding all four offices in the near future.
About Blackford Capital
Founded in 2000, Blackford Capital is a lower middle-market private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm's operating experience and flexible capital base. The firm combines the operational expertise and detailed due diligence capabilities of a strategic buyer with the seasoned M&A team of a traditional financial buyer. Blackford Capital has become a successful firm in the middle market having demonstrated over time a reliable track record of creating substantial value in its portfolio companies alongside management. The firm currently has 6 portfolio companies and has completed 4 transactions in the past 12 months. Blackford Capital maintains offices in Irvine and San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit www.blackfordcapital.com.
Unimacts
Unimacts is the Universal Industrial Manufacturing Services company. Unimacts provides tooling, castings, forgings, fabrications and machine shop services to Industrial Original Equipment Manufacturers in North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia. Unimacts prides itself as the single point of contact for complete low-cost country sourcing solutions. Unimacts provides complementary services including engineering and design, supply chain management and logistics which enable Unimacts to deliver a complete solution. Unimacts’ headquarters are located in Boston, MA. For more information please visit www.unimacts.com.
Source International
Source allows companies to reap the cost-saving benefits of offshore manufacturing while counterbalancing their uncertainty in navigating the regulatory, quality assurance and logistics hurdles inherent in foreign supply. The benefits are substantial costs savings associated with offshore manufacturing, coupled with the assurance that customer’s specifications and standards will be met. With full-time on-the-ground staff directed by western managers, Source’s infrastructure and dedicated factory base has proven a very successful model for outsourced contract manufacturing. Source maintains offices in Louisville, Kentucky, Cleveland, Ohio, and Xiamen, Fujian, China. For more information please visit www.sourceint.com.
Convergent Capital
Convergent Capital is an investment company that provides unique, responsive, and flexibly structured capital to assist in the growth and/or acquisition of businesses committed to long-term, sustainable growth in a broad range of industries. Convergent is focused on providing debenture and equity capital investments in a variety of situations, structuring investments around recapitalizations, sponsored buyouts, management buyouts, consolidations and add-on financings to our existing portfolio companies for acquisitions or other special situations. The firm's investment funds, Convergent Capital Partners, I, L.P., and Convergent Capital Partners, II, L.P., are licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration as Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC's). In operation since 1998, Convergent has over $150 million in capital under management. For more information please visit www.cvcap.com.
Fifth Third Bank
Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Company has $111 billion in assets, operates 16 affiliates with 1,306 full-service Banking Centers, including 100 Bank Mart® locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores and 2,372 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Investment Advisors. Fifth Third also has a 49% interest in Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of September 30, 2009, has $184 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $25 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ® National Global Select Market under the symbol "FITB."
