Nautic Partners (Nautic) has completed the acquisition of Harrington Industrial Plastics (Harrington), in partnership with company management.Founded in 1959, Harrington is a leading distributor of corrosion-resistant fluid conveyance, control, and measurement products for industrial fluids and high purity applications (eg, valves, filters, pumps, and tanks). Harrington’s products are used in a variety of end markets, and the company focuses on corrosive applications that generally require higher end specialty products. The company is a vital supply chain partner to its vendors and serves a diverse set of customers including contractors, OEMs and other product end users across a number of markets including water treatment/wastewater, chemicals, institutions, labs, and food and beverage production. Harrington has a strong competitive position in its highly fragmented market, which has resulted in long-term above-market growth, strong customer retention, and high customer satisfaction.
“We are delighted to have found in Nautic a like-minded partner. Harrington has been growing at rates well above the market for several years based on our strategy of providing superior customer service, local product availability, and a level of product and application expertise that is unrivalled in the industry. We look forward to working in close partnership with Nautic to cement these advantages and to continue our strong growth,” says Eben Lenderking, CEO of Harrington.
Chris Pierce, a Managing Director of Nautic, says: “Harrington has a deep, experienced management team that has accelerated the business’s growth trajectory over recent years and has a great culture across the organisation. We are thrilled to partner with them to support the company’s continued organic growth, as well as to pursue selective acquisitions in Harrington’s fragmented market. Additionally, we’re excited to add another investment to our distribution portfolio within Nautic’s Industrials group.”
Sean Wieland, a Principal of Nautic, says: “Harrington is a leader in its market and provides a strong value proposition to its customer base rooted in a solutions-based approach as well as product breadth and availability. We believe the company has significant runway to continue to capitalise on its position of scale in the market to continue to provide value to its customers and grow the company, and we are excited to work with the management team on those efforts.”
McDermott Will & Emery LLP represented Nautic in the transaction and Jefferies Finance LLC, Varagon Capital Partners LP, and AEA Debt Management LP provided the financing for the transaction. Jefferies LLC and Mayer Brown advised Harrington.
