Private equity investment firm HIG Capital has sold Safe-Guard Products International to an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, a global investment banking, securities and investment management firm.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Safe-Guard is a provider of finance and insurance (F&I) products to the automotive industry.
“HIG has been a tremendous partner to Safe-Guard and has been instrumental in helping us develop and execute our growth strategy,” says Randy Barkowitz, chief executive officer of Safe-Guard. “Over the last five years, we’ve invested in our team, our infrastructure and our program offerings, and Safe-Guard is now the clear ancillary F&I industry leader.”
“We applaud Doug Duncan’s entrepreneurial vision as the founder of Safe-Guard and his strategic insight and guidance as our partner and Safe-Guard’s chairman over the course of our ownership,” says Bret Wiener, a managing director of HIG Capital. “Management has successfully executed the strategic initiatives in channel development, programme expansion and risk management which formed our investment thesis and enabled the company to nearly triple annual revenue since our investment. Safe-Guard has been an extremely successful investment for management, HIG and our investors. We look forward to seeing the continued success of the business.”
