Graham Partners Seizes a Window of Opportunity

Graham Partners has acquired Chelsea Building Products, Inc., a leading manufacturer of vinyl lineals and accessories for the window and door fabrication market, as well as specialty cellular PVC moldings and exterior wall cladding. Chelsea serves the repair & remodel and new construction segments of the building products industry. With a proven track record of product innovation, longstanding customer relationships, and extensive, proprietary profile designs, Chelsea was able to maintain market share through the downturn and is well positioned for future growth.

This marks the fifth platform investment for Graham Partners over the past nine months, following the acquisitions of Eberle, Strata, SP, and GP Industrial Technologies. Graham Partners specializes in buyouts of middle market manufacturing companies. The firm’s strategy is to acquire industrial and manufacturing-related businesses that are benefiting from product or technology substitution trends and raw materials conversions in their industries where Graham can utilize its extensive operating resources and industrial network to add value. For Chelsea in particular, Graham Partners’ substantial experience in plastics and building products will afford the company access to a deep bench of valuable industry contacts and resources.

Chelsea has considerable exposure to the renovation and repair segment of the construction industry, and is expected to experience growth as new residential construction activity increases from current trough levels. Chelsea is also benefiting from the ongoing adoption of vinyl from other materials as the federal government continues to set higher energy efficiency standards for windows and doors. Additional opportunities to expand profits should be garnered through operational improvements, as well as further market penetration of its recently introduced specialty cellular PVC product line, which offers considerable growth potential.

“Chelsea Building Products is a dynamic company with demonstrated innovation within the building products industry,” said Rob Newbold, Managing Principal at Graham Partners. “The Company’s quality products, loyal customer base, and well-known brand name provide it a great advantage.” Peter Dewil, President of Chelsea Building Products, said, “I look forward to partnering with Graham, and am confident that their knowledge and experience within the industry will help us take Chelsea to the next level.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Graham Partners (www.grahampartners.net): Graham Partners is a leading, lower middle market private equity firm based in suburban Philadelphia with over $1.5 billion under management. Graham Partners is sponsored by the privately held Graham Group of York, Pennsylvania, an industrial and investment concern with global interests in plastics, packaging, machinery, building products and outsource manufacturing. Graham Partners seeks to acquire industrial and manufacturing-related companies with revenues between $30 million and $500 million that participate in niches where Graham can leverage its unique combination of operating resources and financial expertise to drive value creation.

About Chelsea Building Products (www.chelseabuildingproducts.com): Headquartered in Oakmont, PA, Chelsea operates three business segments: window and door profiles, specialty building products and PVC compounding. The window and door profiles segment designs and produces vinyl window and door systems for window and door fabricators, who in turn sell finished products to distributors, dealers or directly to end users. The specialty building products segment develops and produces tailor-made proprietary products such as specialty cellular PVC exterior wall cladding and molding. Chelsea also maintains its own tool and die shop, which has a complete design and manufacturing team that utilizes state-of-the-art software and machining equipment to manufacture and maintain extrusion tools. Chelsea is formerly a subsidiary of Tessenderlo Group.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rob Newbold (rnewbold@grahampartners.net)
William Timmerman (wtimmerman@grahampartners.net)
Christina Morin (cmorin@grahampartners.net)
Tel: (610) 408-0500 / Fax: (610) 408-0600
www.grahampartners.net