Consolidated Fire Protection, LLC (“CFP”) repairs, services, inspects, designs, fabricates and installs fire suppression and fire alarm and detection systems for commercial, industrial and institutional customers throughout the Western United States. CFP was owned by Caltius Equity Partners (“Caltius”), a California-based private equity fund, and several members of the management team. When Caltius decided to exit its investment in CFP, the private equity fund retained the founders of SLATE to sell the company.
The founders of SLATE conducted a broad auction process focused on both strategic and financial buyers. Ultimately, SLATE’s founders negotiated the sale of CFP to another private equity fund, California-based Gryphon Investors. Gryphon Investors was attracted to CFP as a platform acquisition that had multiple avenues for growth.
By highlighting CFP’s future opportunities based on its significant infrastructure, which was comparable to that of a much larger organization, the founders of SLATE successfully negotiated a premium valuation for the company. Additionally, by emphasizing the recurring revenue stream created by CFP’s service division, SLATE’s founders were able to drive a significantly higher valuation than commanded by traditional contracting services businesses. SLATE founders’ building materials and services industry expertise proved valuable in guiding prospective acquirers through issues relating to CFP’s union and non-union employees, which varied by geography.
