Incline Equity Partners (“Incline”), a private equity firm focused on making investments in lower middle-market growth companies, announces the sale of BCI Burke (“Burke” or the “Company”), a leading provider of playground and recreation equipment. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Burke, headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is a nationwide designer and manufacturer of play systems, fitness playgrounds and recreation products for schools, municipalities, child care centers and housing associations. Founded in 1920, the Company has a respected brand and is known for its product innovation, customer service and product quality.
“This was an ideal situation for Incline,” said Wali Bacdayan, Partner with Incline. “The outgoing owner needed a partner to help him seamlessly transition out of the business. The Company needed investments in its facility and product development, as well expertise in advancing the sales strategy and scaling the team to support the growth that these investments would generate. We identified an existing member of the management team with the potential to be president and chief executive officer. We enjoyed helping him develop into that role while building a team around him to implement these key initiatives throughout our ownership period.”
The first priority was significantly upgrading the facility to expand manufacturing capacity and to add a much-needed product development center. The accelerated product development initiatives were further bolstered by a cutting-edge branding campaign, “Play that Moves You”, which drew national visibility and momentum with the distribution network.
“Incline helped us achieve substantial growth by supporting necessary management, information systems and capital investments and by providing strategic direction to strengthen the Company in a growing commercial playground market,” said Michael Phelan, President and CEO of Burke. “Additionally, they helped us develop a differentiated market position that enabled us to build upon and strengthen our distribution network.”
“Working together, we were able to nearly double the size of the Company while meaningfully increasing the profitability,” said Justin Bertram, Partner with Incline. “Burke is very well-positioned for the next phase of growth.”
About Incline Equity Partners:
Incline Equity Partners, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a private equity firm focused on making investments in lower middle-market growth companies, focusing on companies with enterprise values of $50MM to $200MM across a variety of industry sectors including value-added distribution, specialized light manufacturing and business services. Typical investment types are management buyouts, ownership transitions for privately held businesses and corporate divestitures. Incline Equity Partners has experience with investing, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance, leveraged buyouts and growth capital.
Disclaimer:
Incline Management Corporation (“IMC”) is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. IMC provides investment advisory services only to privately offered funds. IMC does not solicit or make its services available to the public or other advisory clients. This press release is intended solely to provide information regarding Incline’s potential capabilities for prospective portfolio companies, and is not an offer to sell to any person, or a solicitation from any person of an offer to buy, any securities. The statements contained herein are not statements of any IMC client fund or investor and do not describe any experience with or endorsement of IMC as an investment adviser by any such client or investor.