Huron Capital Partners has co-founded Valentus Specialty Chemicals, Inc. ("Valentus") with industry veteran Ray Chlodney, to build a platform company in the specialty coatings industry.  Through Valentus, Huron Capital plans to invest in regional specialty coatings producers to build a company with technically-advanced and environmentally-friendly reactive coating solutions serving a variety of end markets and geographies. The U.S. specialty coatings market is an $18 billion industry.

"We are excited to partner with a proven operator in Ray Chlodney," said Jim Mahoney, a Partner at Huron Capital.  "The specialty coatings market is highly fragmented, and we expect Ray's expertise and connections within the industry will be instrumental in identifying, investing in, and growing businesses with market-leading technologies."

Mike Beauregard, a Senior Partner at Huron Capital, added, "Valentus marks the ninth specialty chemicals business that Huron Capital has funded over the past decade.  Through our established buy-and-build model, the Valentus coatings platform follows our established history of investing in successful niche specialty chemical platforms, including Quest Specialty Chemicals and Bloomer Plastics.  We are surrounding the Valentus initiative with a significant amount of intellectual and financial capital."

"It is great to work with Huron Capital," added Chlodney.  "Since its founding, Huron Capital has a history of partnering with executives in order to create value through buy-and-build strategies.  The specialty coatings market is a perfect fit for our strategy, with a large number of private, family-owned businesses that could benefit from additional capital and operational expertise."

The Valentus initiative is targeting companies with the following characteristics:

• Product portfolio focused on innovative, environmentally-friendly, reactive coatings technologies;
• Proven ability to meet customer needs with unique coatings solutions and exceptional customer service;
• Annual revenues of least $20 million; and
• Strong recurring revenue base with high customer retention.

Huron Capital is an operationally-focused private equity firm that seeks to grow lower middle-market companies through its customized buy-and-build model.