March 25, 2014

May River Capital Completes Acquisition of Pride Engineering

Pride Engineering

March 25, 2014 — Private equity firm May River Capital, an investor in lower middle-market industrial growth businesses, has completed its acquisition of Pride Engineering, LLC (“Pride”) (www.pridecan.com). Terms were not disclosed.

Pride, based in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, designs and manufactures highly engineered, mission critical machine tools and equipment used globally in the production of two-piece metal cans for the beverage and food industries. Pride’s products are considered the industry standard based upon their precision, accuracy and reliability. The transaction represents a new partnership between May River and the majority of Pride’s prior shareholders, including Mark Zauhar, founder, Bruce Allyn, President, and David Gadow, Director of Engineering & Manufacturing. In addition to investing alongside May River, Messrs. Zauhar and Allyn will also serve with May River on Pride’s Board of Directors.

Bruce Allyn, President of Pride, said “We are delighted to partner with May River. They share our vision for growing Pride and can provide financial, strategic and professional resources required to accomplish our goals and to provide our customers with the best products in the world.” Mark Zauhar, founder of Pride, added “This recapitalization is a positive outcome for our shareholders, employees and customers.”

Steve Griesemer, May River Partner, said “We were immediately drawn to Pride’s proprietary technology, its strong customer relationships, its large, global installed base, and the mission critical nature of Pride’s products.” Chip Grace, also a May River Partner, added “May River is pleased to be selected to partner with Pride’s management team in the acquisition. We look forward to assisting Bruce and the team in realizing Pride’s full potential in the years to come.”

Franklin Partners Inc. served as financial advisor to Pride and the selling shareholders in this transaction. Fifth Third Bank provided senior and subordinated debt financing in support of the recapitalization. Paul Hastings LLP served as legal counsel to May River and its investor group, while Ravich Meyer served as counsel to the Company and its shareholders.

ABOUT MAY RIVER CAPITAL

May River Capital is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on investing in lower middle-market industrial growth companies. May River invests in high-quality industrial growth businesses, including precision manufacturing, engineered products, specialized industrial services, and value-added industrial distribution businesses. For more information, please visit www.mayrivercapital.com.

ABOUT PRIDE ENGINEERING

Pride Engineering designs and manufactures highly-engineered, mission critical, multi-piece machine tools and related equipment for the front-end production of two-piece food and beverage cans. The Company’s product offering includes can body-forming tool packs, can bottom formers or “domers”, precision grinders, and the newly introduced GuardianTM line of Over Travel Sensors. Pride’s products are used in over 365 can-making lines in facilities around the world. Pride’s products utilize proprietary technology that extends the wearable life of can-making equipment and provides precision and consistency that cannot be replicated by other competitors. Pride’s products are considered the industry standard by two-piece food and beverage can makers around the world. For more information on Pride, please visit www.pridecan.com.

CONTACT:
Chip Grace
Phone
Email

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