Company Established as Successful Independent Business Through New Capital Investment and Strategic Acquisitions
Sun Capital Partners, Inc. (“Sun Capital”), a leading private investment firm specializing in leveraged buyouts and investments in market-leading companies, today announced that an affiliate has signed a definitive agreement to sell Aclara Technologies LLC (“Aclara” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of smart infrastructure solutions for utilities, to Hubbell Power Systems, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE: HUBB). The agreement establishes a purchase price of $1.1 billion for the Company.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Aclara is a worldwide supplier of smart meters and other field devices, advanced metering infrastructure and software and services to more than 800 water, gas, and electric utilities. Aclara enables utilities to predict and respond to conditions, leverage their distribution networks effectively, and engage with their customers.
“We’re extremely proud that we were able to grow and transform Aclara by applying our deep experience in building market-leading businesses from corporate carve-outs,” said Marc Leder, Co-CEO at Sun Capital. “During our investment period, we were able to invest in and improve the business while also quadrupling EBITDA. We are confident Aclara is poised for continuing success under its new owner.”
Sun Capital launched Aclara as an independent business when its affiliate acquired the Company from a corporate parent in 2014. Since then, Aclara has grown and improved its market position through a series of operational enhancements, as well as four add-on acquisitions of complementary businesses that were also carve-outs from corporate parents.
“Aclara is a great example of how we apply the Sun Transformation System to build companies and create value,” said Daniel Florian, Managing Director at Sun Capital. “At Aclara, we were able to build a world-class management team led by Allan Connolly, improve procurement, and, most importantly, make significant investments in R&D. Development of new products and capabilities increased Aclara’s addressable market five-fold, and resulted in a robust backlog of contracted sales of approximately $1 billion.”
Sun Capital has strong experience in industrial businesses through current and recent affiliated portfolio companies including Robertshaw, a leading design, engineering and manufacturing company that sells critical components and control systems used to regulate all major functions of white good appliances, and ThermaSys Corporation, a manufacturer and supplier of engineered copper, brass and aluminum heat exchanger components and assemblies.
About Sun Capital Partners, Inc.
Sun Capital Partners is a global private equity firm focused on identifying companies’ untapped potential and leveraging its deep operational and financial resources to transform results. Sun Capital is a trusted partner that is recognized for its investment and operational experience, including particular expertise in the consumer products and services, food and beverage, industrial, packaging, chemicals, building products, automotive, restaurant and retail sectors. Since 1995, Sun Capital has invested in more than 350 companies worldwide with revenues in excess of $45 billion across a broad range of industries and transaction structures. Sun Capital has offices in Boca Raton, Los Angeles and New York, and affiliates in London and Shenzhen.
For more information, please contact:
Doug Allen
Stanton
646-502-3530
DAllen@StantonPRM.com
