Capstone Partners, Industrial Technology Group advised Bell and Howell, LLC (Bell and Howell or the Company), a portfolio company of Versa Capital Management, LLC (Versa), on its sale to Westview Capital Partners.
Based in Durham, NC, Bell, and Howell (https://bellhowell.net/) is a leading provider of tech-enabled mechatronic services across North America and serves the rapidly growing robotics and automation equipment/systems service industry. The Company has a world class infrastructure with 700+ field service technicians that utilize IIoT-based remote monitoring/diagnostics and predictive/preventative maintenance software and capabilities.
The Capstone Team showed a keen understanding of the Industrial Automation sector and provided invaluable help in positioning the Company and identifying the right buyers.
Versa Capital Management is a turnaround focused investment firm with more than $1.25 billion of committed capital under management. Versa focuses on making control investments in special situations and distressed middle market companies. This transaction is the culmination of the successful transformation of the Company and realization of the investment which included two previous division divestitures, Fluence Automation, also managed by Capstone, and BCC Software.
WestView Capital Partners is a Boston-based private equity firm that manages approximately $1.7 billion in capital across four funds. WestView focuses on growth-oriented investments and partners with existing management teams to sponsor LBOs, minority/majority recaps, and growth financings. This acquisition represents Westview Capital Partners’ continued focus on investing in service focused, high-growth industrial technology companies.
Kamal Advani, Managing Director at Versa Capital Management, said “The Capstone team did a fantastic job from start to finish. They were able to navigate complex deal dynamics and work effectively with various stakeholders to achieve a successful outcome for all parties.”
Peter Nam, Managing Director and Co-Head of Industrial Technologies at Capstone, said “We were honored to work with Bell and Howell and Versa Capital Management, to close a deal with a private equity veteran that is committed to investing in the next phase of the Company’s growth. Bell and Howell has leveraged its mechatronic IP and technology capabilities to capitalize on the growing automation and robotics equipment installed bases that need to be monitored, maintained, repaired and serviced.”
Capstone Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Bell and Howell. Bell & Howell represents the 8th successful advisory assignment in the Automation sector for Capstone’s Industrial Technology Group in the last three years.
