Private investment firm Auxo Investment Partners has acquired Altus Industries Inc., a Grand Rapids, MI-based designer, manufacturer, assembler and marketer of medical, point-of-care workstations used across the healthcare industry. As part of the deal, Spectrum Health Ventures, one of Altus’s larger customers, will join as a strategic partner in the transaction.
“As a well-run and growing company, Altus has tremendous growth potential that can be further accelerated through deployment of Auxo’s playbook to enhance the company’s infrastructure and operations,” said Jeff Helminski, Auxo co-founder and managing partner. “Spectrum Health’s involvement will be transformative for Altus as we leverage their experience as an Altus customer and their deep relationships in the healthcare industry. We’re excited to partner with Spectrum Health and Altus co-founders Craig VanderHeide and Eric Kahkonen to accelerate the company’s strong historic growth.”
“We’ve had a lot of interest in our company over the years, but we got to know the Auxo team and felt confident about what working with them would mean for Altus and our employees,” said Craig VanderHeide, Altus co-founder and CEO who will remain in his current position. “Based on Auxo’s work with similar companies, we are excited about how this partnership will enhance our market position by expanding our sales and product development infrastructure. Even more importantly, we can count on them to be careful stewards of the business with a genuine commitment to our people and community – because they live and work here too.”
“With an established market position among notable health systems, Altus is the corporate standard for top quality and highly customizable point-of-care workstations,” said Scott McLean, managing director of Spectrum Health. “We believe we can help accelerate the company’s already tremendous growth by leveraging our network of relationships in the healthcare industry around the country. In addition to the relationships we will facilitate, Spectrum will bring to bear its knowledge as a purchaser and user of mobility workstations to drive user-centric product development innovations.”
“In today’s healthcare environment, taking cost out of the system is something we talk about every day,” said Bill Selles, senior director of Procurement at Spectrum Health. “Altus’s products helped us do just that, all while standing a cut above its competition in terms of quality, ease of customization and overall level of service. The investment in Altus is not only an investment in a product we believe in, but also one that we know will help our partners around the country continue to deliver care in a cost-effective manner for decades to come.”
Advisors and lenders on the transaction included Miller Johnson PLC, Dickinson Wright PLLC, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, BDO USA LLP, BHS Insurance, Strategies Wealth Advisors and Comerica Inc.