Golden Gate Capital has acquired Cole-Parmer, a distributor of medical lab and testing equipment, from private equity firm GTCR. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cole-Parmer is a designer and manufacturer of laboratory and industrial fluid handling products, testing and measurement equipment. Founded in 1955, the Vernon Hills, Illinois-based company was founded in 1955 and services the healthcare, biotech, pharmaceutical, environmental and food industries. Cole-Parmer distributes its products to an international network of laboratory managers and independent dealers using a variety of brands, including: Masterflex, Ismatec, Oakton, and the Cole-Palmer private label brand.

San Francisco-based Golden Gate holds investments in more than 35 companies across six industry sectors that include: industrials, financial services, software, semi-conductors and IT hardware, retail and restaurants, and information technology and business services. The San Francisco-based private equity firm seeks out “change-intensive investments” in order improve a company’s “earnings by catalyzing strategic and operational change,” according to the firm. In 2017, Golden Gate purchased restaurant chain Bob Evans and also bought aircraft ground support equipment provider Tronair Parent Inc. the year prior. In 2015, the firm’s portfolio company Nassau Reinsurance Group bought a life insurance business for $217.2 million.

GTCR, based in Chicago, is a private equity firm focused on the financial services, healthcare, and technology, media and telecommunications sectors. In January, the firm formed a new financial technology provider called Dash Financial Technologies. In 2016, GTCR agreed to buy RevSpring Inc., a billing and customer communications service provider for businesses. The PE firm has invested more than $10 billion in capital to over 200 businesses since its founding in 1980. GTCR's investments is underlined by the Leaders Strategy, a program that involves "finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth."

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (NYSE: JPM) served as financial adviser to GTCR, while Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) acted as financial adviser to Golden Gate. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Cole-Parmer and GTCR, while PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP served as accounting adviser. Goldman Sachs & Co. (NYSE: GS) and Jefferies LLC also advised Cole-Parmer on its sale to Golden Gate Capital.