NEW YORK, November 3, 1999 -- Castle Harlan, Inc., the New York merchant bank, said today a private equity investment fund it manages had completed the acquisition of AdobeAir, Inc., one of the nation's leading manufacturers of evaporative coolers and portable electric heaters. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. (Tombstone said $102 million)
AdobeAir, based in Phoenix, Arizona, has a strong presence in evaporative coolers, which use 80 percent less energy than standard air conditioning. The company has a major market share in the United States and in Mexico. AdobeAir also has a leading market share in the portable electric heater market.
Mexican operations are managed through the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Impco SA de CV in Monterrey, Mexico. Overall, AdobeAir's revenues this year are expected to exceed $110 million.
AdobeAir has an expansive product line that includes such well-known brands as MasterCool®, Arctic Circle® and Heat Stream®. Its products and brands are widely recognized for performance, quality and value by key retail customers such as Home Depot, Kmart, Sears and Wal-Mart, as well as by such established distributors as Sigler & Reeves, Fields & Co. and Webb Distributors.
The acquisition was made by Castle Harlan Partners III, a $630 million limited partnership for private equity investments organized and managed by Castle Harlan. Castle Harlan's Australian affiliate, Australian Mezzanine Investments, also participated in the transaction.
Howard Morgan, a Castle Harlan Managing Director, said that AdobeAir "has an outstanding record of strong sales and profit growth and boasts a talented and experienced management team, who are substantial equity partners with us in AdobeAir.
"Castle Harlan intends to increase the company's rate of growth, both in the United States and in Mexico," Morgan added. "We have already begun looking for new markets and suitable add-on investments, particularly in related niche heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) industries.
"We are also interested in consumer durables with manfacturing and/or distribution characteristics similar to AdobeAir's core product lines."
Ben Sebel of Castle Harlan commented: "AdobeAir's products offer tremendous operating cost savings and are most effective in warm, arid climates such as the American Southwest, much of Mexico, Australia and the Middle East. As consumer purchasing power and political stability expands in other areas of the world, substantially larger geographic markets can start to benefit from the products as well."
Ron Rosin, who has led AdobeAir for the past 15 years, will continue as president and chief executive officer.
"Castle Harlan has a reputation for motivating and rewarding management, supporting growth of its portfolio companies and focusing on value," Rosin said. "This can only work to the benefit of the company, our customers, our more than 1,000 employees and our suppliers."
Since its founding in 1987, Castle Harlan has completed acquisitions exceeding $4.5 billion. Castle Harlan's portfolio companies have included Delaware Management Company, the Philadelphia-based money-management firm with more than $32 billion in assets under management; Truck Components, Inc., the largest manufacturer of components for large-truck braking systems; Smarte Carte, the world's largest airport luggage cart rental company; and MAG Aerospace, the leader in worldwide manufacture of aircraft sanitation systems.
Currently among its portfolio companies are Universal Compression, Inc., a leading independent provider of natural gas compression equipment and services; Worldwide Flight Services, one of the world's leading providers of ground services to the aviation industry, which was acquired from AMR Corp. in March; and the Verdugt B. V. group of acid salts businesses, based in the Netherlands, which was acquired from BP Amoco in April.
Castle Harlan was founded by John K. Castle, a pioneer in institutionalizing private equity investing through limited partnerships and the former president and chief executive officer of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the investment banking firm, and by Leonard M. Harlan, founder and former owner and chairman of The Harlan Company, a diversified real estate and corporate finance advisory firm.