WESTPORT, CT (September 5, 2023) – Gemspring Capital Management, LLC (“Gemspring”), a middle-market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that an affiliate has acquired Midland Industries, LLC (“Midland” or the “Company”), a manufacturer and distributor of pipe, valve, and fitting products across North America. Existing investor Wynnchurch Capital, L.P. (“Wynnchurch”) will retain a minority stake in the Company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Midland is a value-added distributor and manufacturer of fittings, valves, clamps, hoses, and related products for a wide variety of manufacturing, plumbing, utilities, HVAC, fluid power, and other general industrial end markets. Originally founded in 1919, Midland has grown from a regional distributor into a leading national supply chain partner to customers across the industrial ecosystem.
John Gerber, CEO of Midland said “Midland is at an exciting inflection point in our evolution, and we are thrilled to partner with Gemspring as we pursue numerous growth and innovation opportunities across our product lines. Gemspring’s considerable industrial distribution expertise will drive significant value as we expand our product suite, geographic reach, and end markets to better serve a longstanding customer base that has become accustomed to our exceptional service levels.”
“John and his team have built a best-in-class distribution platform, and we believe that Midland is differentiated in a market where supply chain partnership and operational excellence is critical to customer success,” added Geoff Broglio, Managing Director at Gemspring. “We are excited to partner with the Midland team as the company continues to grow its operations and drive product innovation, geographic expansion, and end market diversification.”
“Since our investment in 2018, Midland has solidified its position in the industrial distribution market, developing an industry-leading e-commerce platform and building a national footprint of local facilities—all while maintaining an unwavering commitment to customer success,” said Greg Gleason, Managing Partner at Wynnchurch. “We look forward to the next phase of growth for Midland and believe that Gemspring is the ideal partner to drive continued success for the Company.”
Midland and Wynnchurch were advised by Harris Williams as financial advisor and Paul Hastings as legal counsel. Gemspring was advised by KeyBank Capital Markets as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as legal counsel.
About Midland Industries
Midland is a value-added distributor and manufacturer of fittings, valves, clamps, hoses, and related products across North America. The Company offers a full-suite of mission-critical products to distributors, manufacturers, and retailers that address a wide range of industrial applications. Based in Kansas City, MO, Midland has over 250 employees and operates 11 facilities in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.midlandindustries.com.
About Gemspring Capital
Gemspring Capital, a Westport, Connecticut-based private equity firm with $3.4 billion of capital under management, provides flexible capital solutions to middle market companies. Gemspring partners with talented management teams and takes a partnership approach to helping drive revenue growth, value creation and sustainable competitive advantages. Gemspring targets companies with up to $1 billion in revenue in the aerospace & defense, business services, consumer, financial and insurance services, healthcare services, industrial services, software and tech-enabled services, or specialty manufacturing sectors For more information, visit www.gemspring.com.
About Wynnchurch Capital
Wynnchurch Capital, L.P., headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, with an affiliate in 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 the United States and Canada that possess the potential for substantial growth and profit improvement. Wynnchurch manages a number of private equity funds with $5.7 billion of regulatory assets under management and specializes in recapitalizations, growth capital, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs, and restructurings. For more information, visit www.wynnchurch.com.