Wynnchurch Capital, a $2.3 billion middle market-private equity firm, today announced the formation of Wynnchurch Industries, LLC, a new platform company which has been established to invest in industrial materials companies. The new platform will be led by Chairman & CEO, Grant H. Beard, who previously served as CEO of Wolverine Advanced Materials LLC, a subsidiary of Wolverine Automotive Holdings, Inc., a former Wynnchurch investment.
John Hatherly, President and Managing Partner of Wynnchurch, said, "It is our desire to create a vehicle to deploy capital into high quality materials companies. Grant has demonstrated his leadership skills and value creation abilities throughout his career. On behalf of the partners of Wynnchurch, it gives me great pleasure to announce his leadership of Wynnchurch Industries."
Beard started with Wynnchurch as a Chairman of Wolverine Automotive Holdings, Inc. in 2011. He later stepped into the CEO role in 2012 and recently led the company's successful sale to I.T.T. Corporation (NYSE:ITT) for $300 million. He possesses substantial operations and acquisition experience including leading a highly successful buy-and-build strategy that created TriMas Corporation (NASDAQ:TRS), a $1 billion revenue diversified holding company. Formerly, he was the CEO of Constar International, TriMas Corporation, and Health Media. He has been an investor with Blue Point Capital, The Anderson Group, and The Oxford Group. Grant is an active member of the following boards: U.S. Manufacturing, Advanced Energy Industries, T.A. Systems, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Grant holds an M.A. in International Economics from the University of Detroit and both a B.S. and M.B.A. in Finance from Miami University.
Wynnchurch Industries will deploy a "buy, grow, and hold" strategy focused on material manufacturers that serve industrial markets. Target business traits include niche market leadership, proprietary competitive advantages, strong barriers to entry, stable core cash flows, and high margins. Wynnchurch Industries prefers privately negotiated transactions with businesses generating $5 million to $15 million in EBITDA.
Wynnchurch Capital, LLC, headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois with offices in California, Michigan, Ohio and Canada, was founded in 1999 and is a leading middle-market private equity investment firm. Wynnchurch's strategy is to partner with middle market companies in Canada and the United States that possess the potential for substantial growth and profit improvement. Wynnchurch Capital manages a number of private equity funds with $2.3 billion of capital under management and specializes in recapitalizations, growth capital, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs and restructurings.