Imperial Capital was the financial advisor to GPI Prototype & Manufacturing Services on its just closed sale to FATHOM, a portfolio company of CORE Industrial Partners.
GPI uses direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) – a process that employs a high powered laser to melt and fuse metallic powders together – to print parts with complex geometries for on-demand manufacturing applications. The company has capabilities with a range of metal powders, including aluminum, steel and stainless steel, titanium, Inconel (a nickel-chromium-based alloy) and cobalt chrome.
Customers of GPI include numerous Fortune 500 companies operating in the medical, aerospace and defense sectors. The company, led by President Adam Galloway, was founded in 2007 and is headquartered north of Chicago in Lake Bluff, Illinois.
“The buy of GPI by FATHOM demonstrates Imperial Capital’s expertise across various industries and our Industrial Group’s knowledge and extensive relationships at all levels of the advanced manufacturing sector,” said John Mack III, a managing director and co-head of investment banking at Imperial Capital.
CORE has been actively assembling a 3D prototyping and low-volume production services platform since its buy of Midwest Composite Technologies (MCT) in September 2018.
MCT’s technical capabilities include laser sintering, poly-jet printing, stereolithography, fused deposition modeling, multi-jet fusion technologies, CNC machining, injection molding and industrial design. Customers of the company are active in the medical, aerospace, research & development, consumer, and industrial end markets. MCT was founded in 1984 and is headquartered 25 miles west of Milwaukee in Hartland, Wisconsin.
Companies like MCT are part of “Industry 4.0” which refers to the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. The goal of Industry 4.0 is the creation of “smart factories” that utilize cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution.
In December 2019, MCT acquired ICOMold, an Ohio-based custom plastic injection molder and a provider of CNC machining to customers in the medical, consumer, industrial, electronics, and transportation sectors. A second add-on was closed by MCT in September 2019 with the buy of FATHOM, a California-based manufacturer with an expertise in 3D printing and additive manufacturing. FATHOM’s products are used in the consumer products, electronics, medical, automotive, aerospace, sporting goods, and product design sectors.
With the acquisition of GPI, CORE has decided that all four companies – MCT, ICOMold, FATHOM and GPI – will go to market under the FATHOM brand. The combined company now has 100 large-platform industrial-grade 3D printing machines and a national footprint with over 200,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity across five facilities.
“The addition of GPI to FATHOM is a strong addition that should greatly enhance and expand FATHOM’s leading capabilities,” said Kevin Frisch, the head of Imperial’s industrial group.
Imperial Capital provides middle-market companies and financial sponsors with investment banking advisory, capital markets and restructuring services. The firm employs over 250 professionals and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Stamford, Florida, Houston, and Chicago.
CORE makes control investments in companies that have revenues of up to $200 million, EBITDA of up to $20 million, and enterprise values up to $150 million. Sectors of interest include a range of specialty verticals within the manufacturing and industrial technology sectors. In February 2019, the firm held a final close of CORE Industrial Partners Fund I LP with total commitments of $230 million. The new fund was significantly oversubscribed with demand in excess of the initial target of $200 million and initial hard cap of $225 million. CORE was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Chicago.
Private Equity Professional | August 26, 2020
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