Houlihan Lokey Advises APPLIED Adhesives

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Applied Products, Inc. (APPLIED Adhesives), a portfolio company of Arsenal Capital Partners (Arsenal), has been acquired by Bertram Capital.

APPLIED Adhesives is a comprehensive provider of adhesive solutions for the packaging, product assembly, paper converting, and automotive markets. The company is a value-added distributor of hot melt, water-based, and structural adhesives as well as adhesive dispensing equipment. APPLIED Adhesives serves as a critical supply chain partner to leading adhesive manufacturers and formulators by offering reach, high service levels, and technical expertise to an expansive customer base. APPLIED Adhesives also has an extensive portfolio of private-label adhesives and equipment through several brands, including ASURE, Adhezion, Infinity Bond, Pacific Adhesives, AST Equipment, and KEYSTONE equipment spare parts.

Arsenal is a leading private equity investment firm that specializes in building market-leading industrial growth and healthcare companies. Since its inception in 2000, Arsenal has raised institutional equity investment funds totaling more than $10 billion, completed over 300 platform and add-on acquisitions, and achieved more than 35 realizations. Driven by a commitment to unlock potential in people, businesses, and technologies, the firm partners with management teams to build strategically important companies with leading market positions, high growth, and high value-add.

Bertram Capital is a private equity firm targeting investments in lower-middle-market companies. Since its inception in 2006, the firm has raised more than $4.0 billion in capital commitments. In addition to supplying strategic growth capital, Bertram Capital leverages proprietary processes and services, including Bertram High-5sm and Bertram Labs, to help its portfolio companies unlock their full potential. Bertram High-5sm is an operationally focused value creation strategy, which includes management augmentation, operational initiative implementation, complementary business acquisition, sales and marketing improvements, and leveraging technology and IP. Bertram Labs, the firm’s in-house technology team, drives growth through digital marketing, e-commerce, big data and analytics, application development, and internal and external platform optimization.

Houlihan Lokey served as the lead financial advisor to APPLIED Adhesives and Arsenal and assisted in initiating, structuring, and negotiating the transaction on their behalf. This transaction highlights the firm’s continued success in advising market-leading specialty distributors of mission-critical products to diverse, resilient end markets as well as delivering superior client service with outstanding results.

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