Private investment firm Auxo Investment Partners has acquired GC Dies, a steel rule die manufacturer based in Elmhurst, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The deal marks Auxo’s ninth acquisition in the firm’s inaugural investment fund, Auxo Growth Holdings I LLC, which closed in the fall of 2018. It is Auxo’s fifth acquisition under the Auxo Die Holdings platform, a growing portfolio of industry-leading cutting die manufacturers the investment firm has acquired in recent years.
Founded in 2000, GC Dies is one of the leading steel rule cutting die manufacturers in the country. The company, which has 50 employees and operates from a 37,500-square foot facility, focuses on flat corrugated, rotary corrugated and flat steel rule die production.
The purchase of GC Dies follows Auxo’s previous acquisitions of cutting die manufacturers Atlas Die, AtlasFlex, Bernal Rotary Dies, Midway Rotary Die Solutions, and DieCraft Engineering & Manufacturing – and further expands a fully integrated family of converting solution companies, each offering a wide selection of purpose-built dies, tools, systems and technical converting expertise.
“We are bringing the industry’s leading converting solution companies together to create the most comprehensive service offering available in the industry, and the addition of GC Dies is an important step in the process,” says Jerry Mosingo, chief executive officer of the Auxo Die Holdings platform. “As we continue to expand – and service many of the world’s leading converting companies – we know our fully integrated solutions can meet virtually any challenge.”
In addition to aligning with increasing customer demand for a single-source, full-service partner, the acquisition presents an opportunity to modernize Auxo Die Holding’s equipment and manufacturing facilities in Chicago for the expanding platform. Company leaders plan to move Atlas Die’s Chicago operations to Elmhurst, where GC Dies has capacity for continued growth.
Auxo Die Holdings’ platform of converting solution companies featuring a fully integrated, end-to-end service offering will formally unite under a single brand in Q1 2021.
“We’re excited to bring GC Dies into our expanding platform and see great potential to expand its customer footprint,” says Auxo Managing Partner Jeff Helminski. “We believe that adding a corrugate offering further bolsters our efforts to help shape the products that touch the lives of people – everything from heart valves and ventilator tubes to cereal boxes, gaskets and surgical masks.”
“The platform that we’ve assembled in recent years only continues to grow – and this acquisition strengthens our position as a fully integrated family of converting solution companies,” adds Auxo Managing Partner Jack Kolodny. “When we considered the full impact of this acquisition, it was obvious that adding GC Dies would make us even more competitive in the Midwest marketplace and enhance our overall platform – which was already the broadest selection of tooling for the converting industry.”
Advisors and lenders on the transaction included Miller Johnson PLC, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, BDO USA LLP, Oxer Capital, Mercantile Bank, Aon Plc, Krauter & Co, Advantage Benefits Group, and Apex Companies LLC.
