Texas company acquires Jacobus subsidiary
Plano, Texas-based Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. has acquired Jacobus Environmental Services of Madison.
Jacobus Environmental Services was created 15 years ago as a division of Milwaukee-based Jacobus Energy Inc. to eliminate customers’ risks associated with the disposal of non-hazardous used oil.
Jacobus Environmental specializes in the collection, testing and recycling of used oil, oily water, used antifreeze, oil filters and absorbents. The company serves businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and upper Michigan.
The acquisition brings one of the major collectors of used oil, oil filters and antifreeze in the upper Midwest into Safety-Kleen’s existing network of industrial cleaner, used oil collection and re-refining and environmental services providers.
“This is a major, strategic acquisition for the Safety-Kleen network,” said Safety-Kleen chief executive officer and president Frederick Florjancic. “This solidifies Safety-Kleen’s presence in seven large states, affirms our commitment to expanding our used oil business, and provides Jacobus’ former customers with a broader range of used oil, industrial cleaning and waste management options.”
The acquisition involves seven oil collection facilities owned or leased by Jacobus in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, and a fleet of 27 oil collection trucks.
Florjancic said Safety-Kleen plans on keeping current service agreements and schedules intact for existing Jacobus customers.
Oconomowoc company acquires Kentucky factories
Orbis Corp., an Oconomowoc-based subsidiary of Menasha Corp., announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the North American material
handling business of Linpac Group Limited of Birmingham, England.
The acquired Linpac business manufactures bulk containers and pallets used in automotive, food, beverage and general industrial applications. Included in the purchase are manufacturing facilities in Georgetown and Bardstown, Ky. Linpac’s materials handling business has approximately 285 employees in North America. The transaction also includes Linpac’s sales, engineering and testing capabilities in Shanghai, China.
“This acquisition is one of several made over the last couple of years in support of Menasha Corp.’s goal of long-term profitable growth,” said Arthur Huge, president and chief executive officer of Neenah-based Menasha Corp. “The acquired business will strengthen the innovative product design and development capabilities that helped make Orbis a leading returnable packaging product and service provider in North America.”
Jim Kotek, president of Orbis, said, “Our customers are continually looking to Orbis for leadership and expertise in ways to reduce their supply chain costs with returnable packaging. This is a tremendous opportunity to meet the diverse and growing needs of the marketplace with an expanded product line and enhanced service levels to support our customers in North America. Additionally, it will extend Orbis’ reach into China, allowing us to quickly respond to the growing needs for returnable packaging in the Chinese marketplace.”
Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of 2006, were not disclosed.
Two Future 50 companies merge
In a merger of two Milwaukee Future 50 companies, Tushaus Computer Services Inc. has acquired Third Millennium Design Inc.
The acquisition brings together Tushaus, a personal computer service company, with Third Millennium, a provider of Apple service and products.
Tushaus will use intellectual property and technology assets from the acquisition to provide Tushaus customers with new tools and services for their Apple systems. In addition, key personnel from Third Millennium Design will be joining the Tushaus Apple team.
“We are now squarely focused on quickly seizing the attractive opportunities this transaction has created for us to increase growth as well as achieving cost synergies in general and administrative expenses,” said Gregg Tushaus, chief executive officer of Tushaus Computer Services. “With the Third Millennium Design acquisition now complete, Tushaus is stronger with increased capacity to reach new customers and the ability to provide current users of Apple systems with enhanced services and offerings. We are looking forward to delivering on the promise of this acquisition and to building value for our clients.”
Tushaus acquired Third Millennium from Kevin Giehl. Giehl and his staff will remain with the merged firm. Tushaus will keep the Third Millennium Design office at 840 N. Third St. open and will continue to operate out of its office at 10400 Innovation Drive and its Oshkosh office located at 3200 N. Main St.
The Future 50 program, presented annually by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce Council of Small Business Executives, honors the fastest-growing small businesses in the Milwaukee area.
RedPrairie to acquire Colorado company
Waukesha-based RedPrairie Corp. announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire StorePerform Technologies Inc. of Denver, Colo.
With the acquisition, StorePerform will become part of RedPrairie’s Retail Productivity Solutions division, which was formerly known as BlueCube Software.
The acquisition positions RedPrairie to meet the expanding market demand for highly integrated workforce management solutions, integrating store execution management solutions with optimized labor scheduling, time and attendance, learning management, and employee self service solutions.
StorePerform president Srikant Vasan will continue to provide business leadership for the StorePerform group out of Denver, and no headcount reductions are planned due to the acquisition. The company provides solutions for prominent retailers such as Lowe’s, Best Buy and Borders.
The financial terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close in the next 20 to 30 days, were not disclosed.
CDW has big growth plans for Berbee
The recent acquisition of Madison’s Berbee Information Networks Corp. by Illinois-based CDW Corp. should be beneficial for both companies and both states, according to a report by the Wisconsin Technology Network.
CDW’s acquisition of Berbee, which came about quickly in a June-to-October time frame, is viewed favorably for reasons of cultural compatibility and competitive synergy.
“It’s a good news day for the state because what we have is a commitment to continue a success and continue growing a business that’s headquartered here, and that’s good for us,” said Todd Linstroth, a senior partner in Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, a Milwaukee law firm. “I really think it’s important to counter the notion that this could be a case where it’s not good news for the state of Wisconsin.”
The deal was reached through a series of negotiations during a competitive process, in which Berbee solicited acquisition offers. CDW was one of a half-dozen serious suitors.
Vernon Hills-based CDW, a Fortune 500 company with $6.3 billion in annual revenue, has 4,300 employees and a market capitalization of $5 billion. The company plans to grow the Berbee operations to $1 billion in annual revenues.
In turn, the privately held Berbee, with current annual revenue approaching $400 million and more than 700 employees, brings value for CDW, according to the report. With two data centers, Berbee features the co-location concept of IT management with off-site data hosting, and it serves as a technology reseller for Cisco, IBM and Microsoft.
Berbee is based in Madison and has other Wisconsin offices in Waukesha, Appleton and Wausau.
Berbee chief executive officer Paul Shain remains with the merged company. Shain will discuss the company’s prospects for growth when he speaks as a panelist at the Northern Trust Economic Trends Breakfast presented by Small Business Times on Friday, Jan. 19.
Wheaton Franciscan buys full ownership of Wisconsin Heart Hospital
Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare recently purchased the remaining stake in the Wisconsin Heart Hospital in Wauwatosa.
Previously, Wheaton Franciscan held a 48-percent ownership stake in the hospital. The remaining 52 percent of the hospital was held by physicians and community investors.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Although the deal closed this week, it will not become effective until Dec. 31.
“Given the current and future declines in federal reimbursement for cardiovascular services, the change in ownership will ensure that this specialty hospital is able to be successful well into the future,” said John Oliverio, president and chief executive officer of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare.
The Wisconsin Heart Hospital will continue to operate in the same way it has from inception, said Norma McCutcheon, president of hospital. Its full-service emergency department will continue operations on a 24/7 basis, she said.
“While the new ownership model changes the financial structure of the hospital, it will be transparent to patients and physicians providing services there. The Wisconsin Heart Hospital will remain the new standard in heart care,” McCutcheon said.
The hospital, located at 10000 W. Blue Mound Road, had a loss of $4.26 million in fiscal 2005.
In addition to the Wisconsin Heart Hospital, Wheaton Franciscan operates Elmbrook Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee and St. Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee firm acquires St. Louis company
Milwaukee-based Security MicroImaging Corp. announced it has purchased ISC Document Systems of St. Louis, Mo.
“This strategic transaction complements our enterprise content management practice with additional resources and proven industry experience, allowing us to provide more advanced data capture solutions to an expanding account base throughout the Midwest,” said Bill Buerger, president of Security MicroImaging.
ISC Micro will serve as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Security MicroImaging and its entire full-time staff, including previous owner and president Kirk Landwehrmier, will retain their employment in the St. Louis office.
ISC Micro is a value-added integrator of enterprise content management solutions, focused on assisting clients to achieve enhanced productivity, profitability, and compliance.
Collectively, Security MicroImaging now has 35 employees with offices in Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis.
“This is an exciting time for us. We are thrilled to
have the ISC Micro on our team. Their expertise and presence in the Missouri region, combined with our established business relationships in Wisconsin and Illinois, will provide us with the tools to be one of the leading ECM providers in the Midwest,” said Joseph Rezell, vice president of sales and marketing for Security MicroImaging.
Brass Ring Capital acquires IGC Technologies
Brass Ring Capital Inc., a Milwaukee-based private equity firm, recently completed the acquisition of IGC Technologies Inc.
IGC, which formulates, blends and distributes ingredients utilized primarily by the metal casting industry, has locations in Milwaukee, Glendale and Gottingen, Germany.
Brass Ring Capital partnered with Ralf Schonfelder, IGC’s president, and Lewis & Clark Private Equities LP, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based private equity firm, in the acquisition. The partners acquired the firm from its founder, John Brander. With the transaction, Schonfelder has been named chief executive officer of IGC.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“John (Brander) kept ownership in local hands and will remain as a consultant doing the same type of R&D (research and development) work he built the company around,” said Steve Peterson, managing director of Brass Ring. “Ralf now becomes a significant owner, which is a reflective of the effort he’s put forth in the business over the past few years. We, of course, welcomed the opportunity to be part of a solid, local business. We see a number of growth opportunities for IGC, including new product developments and add-on acquisitions. Backing a first rate international manager like Ralf to execute the strategy really sold the investment for us.”
“The deal with Brass Ring is a great catalyst for us to move the business forward to the next level. IGC is well known within its industry segments, and we intend to further leverage our strong brand recognition into global markets,” Schonfelder said.
Milwaukee-based M&I Bank played a lead role in the acquisition.
Baird affiliate invests in North Carolina company
Baird Capital Partners (BCP), the private equity affiliate of Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., has completed an investment in Campbell Alliance Group Inc. of Raleigh, N.C.
Campbell, a specialized management consulting firm serving the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, will use the investment to fund its continued expansion.
Campbell was founded in 1997 to assist pharmaceutical and biotech companies in developing strategic and operational plans, improving the efficiency of clients’ internal operations and responding to complex and specialized market challenges. Campbell has additional offices in Parsippany, N.J., New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston.
“With the increasing cost to bring new drugs to market and greater complexity in the market environment, pharmaceutical and biotech companies derive substantial value from Campbell’s specialized expertise,” said Dave Pelisek, a partner at BCP and a member of Campbell’s board of directors.
John Campbell, chief executive officer of Campbell Alliance Group, said, “We are excited to partner with Baird Capital Partners. BCP’s experience in working with rapidly growing business services and consulting companies will help us to take advantage of the many opportunities we see to further assist pharmaceutical and biotech companies.”
Brady Corp. acquires Brazilian manufacturer
Milwaukee-based Brady Corp. announced that it has acquired Asterisco Artes Graficas Ltda. in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Founded in 1980, Etiquetas Asterisco, which does business as Etiquetas Asterisco, is a leading manufacturer of industrial high-performance labels in Brazil. It specializes in custom labels printed on film materials for the electronics, automotive, pharmaceutical and other industries.
With sales of approximately $7 million in 2005, the Brazilian company employs 60 people.
“Etiquetas Asterisco’s excellent customer service and capabilities in high-quality, custom, printed labels is a perfect match for our strategy of expanding our label offering,” said Matt Williamson, president of Brady Americas. “This acquisition expands our capabilities in Brazil and allows us to offer a broader range of label types to customers there, as well as to existing Brady customers throughout Latin America.”
