Sun Capital Sells ThermaSys
Wellspring Capital emerges as the winning bidder, concluding an auction that began last summer
January 31, 2012
Sun Capital Partners Inc. has sold portfolio company ThermaSys Corp. to Wellspring Capital Management LLC, says the private equity firm’s vice president, Jared Wien, in an exclusive interview. The sale wraps up an auction that began in August.
Financial details on the deal remain undisclosed, however New York-based Wellspring reportedly borrowed $142 million from GE Capital, the lending unit of General Electric Co., to finance the deal.
Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sun Capital acquired ThermaSys, a maker of heat transferring components used in generators, in 2005. At the time, ThermaSys had been having “liquidity and debt issues," Wien explains. In attempt to offset steep losses, the company “divested lower margin business lines and improved manufacturing operations."
In addition, while running ThermaSys, Sun Capital grew the company through two add-on acquisitions that were announced last January. It purchased both Covrad Holdings Ltd. and Serck Heat Transfer, expanding ThermaSys into the U.K. market. Terms of each deal were not disclosed.
As of Dec. 31, ThermaSys’s Ebitda increased four times since the company was acquired, according to Wien.
Last year, Sun Capital determined that ThermaSys was ripe for a sale and hired investment bankers Robert Satow, Franklin Harris and Jeff Corum of Lincoln International to run a sale process. The auction attracted both strategic and financial bidders, Wien says.
Other industrial manufacturers in Sun Capital’s portfolio include electrical contractor, The Farfield Co., and ignition maker Walbro Engine Management. Altogether, Sun Capital affiliates have invested in more than 290 companies worldwide, with combined sales in excess of $45 billion, according to the firm.
Law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP handled legal matters for Sun Capital on the transaction.
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