Align Capital Partners (“ACP”) announces that its portfolio company Pleatco Filtration (“Pleatco” or the “Company”) has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Pentair plc (“Pentair”) (NYSE: PNR) for $255 million. Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. This transaction marks ACP’s third announced exit to date in 2021.

Headquartered in Louisville, KY, Pleatco is a leading aftermarket-focused manufacturer of highly-engineered clean air and pool and spa water filtration technologies that help protect people, processes and the environment. ACP acquired Pleatco in June 2017 and has spent the last four years professionalizing and growing the business through several key initiatives. During the partnership, Pleatco more than doubled its revenue and increased employee headcount from 180 to more than 380.

“Pleatco has been truly transformed through an aggressive series of investments in people, systems, facilities and products,” said ACP Managing Partner Rob Langley. “Additionally, the key tenets of the business that attracted us to the investment years ago are still driving the Company forward today. Pleatco benefits from the recurring nature of its highly engineered, consumable products that are focused on serving pool, spa and industrial air customers’ aftermarket needs.”

During the investment period, ACP recruited executive leadership from within the industry including President Seth Soltow and active board member Rick Von Drehle. ACP rounded out the team with a new CFO and CRO to supplement strong existing talent at the Company and transformed the sales organization. Pleatco also completed strategic add-on acquisitions, which drove product expansion into industrial air and diversified the Company’s pool and spa filter offerings and capabilities.

Senior Operating Partner David Tiley partnered with the Pleatco team on the relocation of the Company’s headquarters and several facility consolidations. “The team at Pleatco has worked tirelessly to integrate various operations and systems allowing the Company to evolve into a diversified, yet unified single platform to deliver great service to its customers,” said Mr. Tiley.

“It’s been incredible to see the pace of change and growth within Pleatco since I joined the Company in 2018,” said Mr. Soltow. “ACP’s operating and growth resources served as active partners who committed much more than just capital to our management team. The Company today is well positioned for continued growth alongside the additional scale and resources that Pentair provides.”

Principal Matt Beesley and Associate Vijay Senthilkumar were also key members of ACP’s investment team. Baird acted as financial advisor to Pleatco and McGuireWoods LLP served as legal counsel to the Company.

Pleatco’s core business model is a great example of the unique types of manufacturing companies that ACP is targeting as new platforms to diversify and grow its current portfolio. ACP is uniquely positioned to be a value-added growth partner for lower middle market engineered components businesses focused on aftermarket, consumable or MRO products.

About Pleatco Filtration

Pleatco is a leading designer and manufacturer of aftermarket pleated filter cartridges, pleated bags and other filtration products for the industrial air and pool / spa markets across USA and Europe. Pleatco Filtration brings together the combined forces of former brands APEL, Milton and TVS and incorporates stand-alone brands Guardian Filtration, EFI and ECO Filtration under the one umbrella, leveraging collective engineering, manufacturing and logistics resources to deliver best-in-class products backed by industry leading sales, marketing and customer service teams. For more information, visit pleatco.com. For more information, visit pleatco.com.

About Align Capital Partners

Align Capital Partners is a growth-oriented private equity firm that partners with business owners and management teams to create shared success. ACP manages $775 million in committed capital with investment teams in Cleveland and Dallas. ACP brings experience and resources to help lower middle market companies accelerate their growth, to the benefit of management, employees and the firm’s investors. ACP makes control investments in differentiated companies within the business services, technology, specialty manufacturing and distribution sectors. For more information, visit aligncp.com.

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