BackFrontenac’s 2023 Year in Review
Frontenac celebrates a successful year with 3 new platforms, 15 add-ons, 3 strategic exits, 3 new hires, and a new ESG Initiative
Chicago, IL – Despite a muted M&A environment, Frontenac roared ahead in 2023 completing several new investments and multiple add-on acquisitions, navigating strategic exits, and launching philanthropic pursuits.
By the numbers, here is a look back at 2023:
3 New Platforms: Launched Several New CEO1ST® Initiatives Across Core Sectors
Frontenac added three new platforms to the portfolio in 2023, demonstrating our commitment to finding investment opportunities for our talented community of executive partners.
City Line is the top independent full-service food service distributor based in New England. Frontenac partnered with Sean Griffin, a seasoned food distribution executive, who previously led SUPERVALU and held executive roles at UNFI and PFG. Sean serves as the Executive Chairman at City Line.
CCI Prime is an established branded Asian food manufacturing business. Frontenac partnered with Howard Eirinberg, a food industry veteran who previously led Kronos Foods and Vienna Beef. Howard serves as the Chairman of CCI Prime.
IOS is an established value-added specialty distributor and service provider of commercial door openings and access control solutions. Frontenac partnered with Brendan Deely, a seasoned distribution and building products executive, who previously led A.H. Harris & Sons, Banner Solutions, and L&W Supply. Brendan serves as the Chairman of IOS.
Portfolio Initiatives: Aggressively Completed Add-On Opportunities
Frontenac completed 15 add-on acquisitions in 2023. Motion & Control Enterprises (MCE) led the portfolio with the completion of 8 acquisitions. Together, Frontenac and MCE management team have completed 15 acquisitions and grown EBITDA by more than 15x.
3 Strategic Exits
Frontenac Completes the Sale of Motion Solutions to Novanta (Nasdaq:NOVT). Frontenac recapitalized Motion Solutions in 2018. Under Frontenac’s leadership, Motion Solutions expanded its reach by growing its customer base, entering new markets, scaling operations, completing strategic acquisitions, and expanding into a new facility with advanced capabilities.
Frontenac Completes Continuation Vehicle with Motion & Control Enterprises. Frontenac acquired MCE in 2018 in partnership with CEO1ST® executive Charley Hale. MCE is a leading industrial distributor and services provider of highly engineered, full lifecycle fluid, flow, automation, and air solutions. The continuation vehicle provides MCE with the resources to accelerate organic growth initiatives and pursue additional acquisition opportunities.
Frontenac Completes the Sale of Excellarate to Encora, a global Next-Gen product engineering services provider. Frontenac led the recapitalization of Prime Technology Group in 2019, merged it with Synerzip, an agile software product development partner for high-growth technology companies, in 2020, and subsequently rebranded the combined business as Excellarate in 2021. With over 20 years of deep domain expertise in HealthTech, FinTech, InsurTech, and enterprise technology, Excellarate solves complex business problems for start-ups and Fortune 1000 companies by accelerating innovation and digital transformation. Frontenac’s investment in Excellarate supported the purchase and integration of two strategic acquisitions, drove expansion and depth of the company’s service offering and scope, deepened the management team and enhanced the company’s engineering capabilities and sales processes.
Bringing Our Leaders Together: Frontenac Hosted Executive Forum
Frontenac successfully hosted its Executive Forum, bringing together CEO1ST® partners and portfolio company executives. The goals of the event were learning and skill development as well as peer-to-peer relationship building. The companies at the Forum exceeded $2 billion in enterprise value and collectively employed over 4,000 people worldwide.
Commitment to Diversity: Initiative with Ownership Works™
Frontenac is part of a coalition of 70 founding institutional investors that have partnered with Ownership Works™, a non-profit organization that aims to increase prosperity through shared ownership. We have observed that broad-based employee ownership has revitalized corporate cultures and provided significant wealth-building opportunities for employees. By promoting a culture of shared ownership, accountability and purpose, companies can achieve new levels of success, which in turn can generate significant wealth-building opportunities for workers.
About Frontenac
Frontenac is a Chicago-based private equity firm. The firm focuses on investing in lower middle market buyout transactions in the consumer, industrial, and services industries. Frontenac works in partnership with established operating leaders, through an executive-centric approach called CEO1ST®, which seeks to identify, acquire, and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and operational excellence. Over the last 50+ years, Frontenac has built a franchise working with over 300 owners of mid-sized businesses as they address complex transition issues of liquidity, management enhancement, and growth planning. For more information, please visit www.frontenac.com.
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