Borgman Capital, a Milwaukee-based private equity firm, has acquired
Durex Products, Inc. of Luck, Wisconsin. The deal was closed on Dec. 13, 2021. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for Durex Investment LLC shows that $4.6 million in equity was raised, which was used in the acquisition of the company by Borgman Capital.
Durex is a manufacturer of wire and polymer screen media, urethane liners, and accessories that are sold into the aggregate, recycling, and mining industries.
“I am grateful to partner with Borgman Capital on the future of Durex,” said Larry Hetzel, the company’s original owner, in a statement. “This keeps ownership within the state of Wisconsin and provides Durex with further resources and expertise to grow. I will continue to be actively involved by sharing my industry knowledge as well as keeping my money in Durex’s new capital structure.”
Dave Bartelme, managing director at Borgman Capital, said Hetzel still has a minority financial stake in the company and serves in an unofficial advising role. Hetzel also owns Rock Machinery Co., LLC, which is a distributor of Durex products and will continue to operate in this capacity. Borgman Capital's acquisition of Durex will allow Hetzel to keep his focus on Rock Machinery Co.
“The acquisition made sense on my end for a number of reasons. One, I look for good, established, Wisconsin-based companies like this,” Bartelme said. “It’s in a small town, it employs around 70-plus people…they make a product that is very much needed in mining and aggregate. You have to separate the different sizes of rocks, so they make the screens that do that.”
He said the screens wear out by design after approximately three months, so the product will always be needed. Coming from a background in mining, Bartelme will also use some of his expertise to help guide Durex in the future.
“A future goal is to work closely with the management team to grow the company at the pace that it has been. They have doubled the size of the business over the last four years, and we intend to invest in the business so that it can continue on the trajectory it has been on,” Bartelme said.
