Intrepid today announced that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to M.L. Kishigo Manufacturing Company, LLC (ML Kishigo), a portfolio company of Solis Capital Partners, on its sale to Bunzl North America (Bunzl). Santa Ana, Calif.-based ML Kishigo has built a highly reputable brand and is the leader in quality for high-visibility safety wear, providing durable and top-performing products to a growing number of customers.
Greg Hayward, CEO of ML Kishigo said: “Intrepid understands our brand and helped to communicate clearly our exciting growth story to the market. We appreciate the team’s work in finding the ideal partner for our business and driving the transaction all the way to closing.” “ML Kishigo’s clearly superior product quality established the brand as the leader in high visibility apparel, and the company’s model, combining domestic manufacturing with international sourcing, and relationships with blue chip customers and key distributors is difficult to replicate,” said Jim Freedman, Chairman and Managing Director at Intrepid. “ML Kishigo is a prized asset in the industry, and we were honored to advise them on this important transaction.”
ML Kishigo designs and manufactures high-visibility safety wear for construction workers, airport personnel, municipal workers and other employees working near all types of vehicular traffic and moving equipment in the United States. The company provides American National Standards Institute (ANSI) compliant high visibility and flame resistant vests, shirts, jackets, pants and rainwear through its domestic manufacturing and international sourcing networks. ML Kishigo sells its products through a broad distribution network serving the safety, workwear, construction and industrial markets, among others.
Bunzl North America serves the largest business area of Bunzl plc, an international distribution, and outsourcing group with operations across the Americas, Europe and Australasia. Bunzl plc is active in 30 countries and allows customers to outsource the purchasing, consolidation, and distribution of a broad range of everyday items, enabling customers to focus on their core businesses, achieve purchasing efficiencies and savings, free up working capital, improve distribution capabilities and simplify internal administration.
Solis Capital Partners is a Southern California-based private equity fund investing in lower middle-market companies throughout the U.S. Solis partners with entrepreneurs, family business owners, and management teams to support company growth and evolution.
Deal Team Contacts
Jim Freedman, Managing Director
Jeremiah Mann, Managing Director
About Intrepid Investment Bankers
Intrepid provides M&A, capital raising and strategic advisory services to entrepreneurs and middle-market companies in various industry sectors. Our heritage, rooted in our founders’ successful 35-year history, breeds a culture that embraces teamwork, tenacity, and creativity to win big for our clients. We believe that every company has an entrepreneurial passion that drives it and a story that defines it. Our team delivers results through skillful positioning and relentless execution. Based in Los Angeles, Intrepid augments its international capabilities through its active participation in Oaklins, an exclusive global alliance of M&A advisory firms.