ACON Equity Partners III, LP, a private equity investment fund affiliated with ACON Investments, LLC announced it has completed the purchase of Suzo-Happ Group from Pfingsten Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Suzo-Happ Group is a leading global supplier of components and accessories to the gaming, amusement and industrial markets. Headquartered in Mount Prospect, Ill., the Suzo-Happ Group has operations in eight countries serving both operators and OEMs worldwide.
ACON Investments purchased Suzo-Happ Group from Pfingsten Partners, a Chicago based private equity group, which will maintain a minority interest along with current management. The company will continue to be led by President and CEO James Brendel and other members of the existing management team and staff who will focus on global growth in the gaming, amusement and industrial markets.
"We are excited to partner with the management of Suzo-Happ Group to build value in a business that is poised for continued growth," said Ken R. Brotman, founding partner of ACON in a prepared statement. "The company has demonstrated solid performance through its long-tenured relationships with its customers and has built a solid foundation, which will ensure Suzo-Happ Group continued success. Customers see value in breadth of product, distribution excellence along with global engineering and manufacturing and we see continued opportunity to expand this concept across multiple end markets and geographies," added Brotman.
James Brendel, president and CEO of Suzo-Happ Group, commented, "The entire management team is excited about our partnership with ACON Investments. Under this new ownership Suzo-Happ will continue to grow as a global Company and provide quality, value, and satisfaction to our customers, suppliers and employees."
Financing for the acquisition is being provided by PNC Bank, N.A., a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and Cerberus Business Finance, LLC. Hogan Lovells US LLP acted as legal advisor to ACON Investments and Paul Hastings LLP acted as legal advisor to Pfingsten Partners.
