Houlihan Lokey Advises Guardian Protection Products

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that leading furniture warranty protection programs and services provider Guardian Protection Products, Inc. (Guardian), a subsidiary of RPM International Inc., has been acquired by OnPoint Warranty Solutions, LLC (OnPoint). The acquisition comes simultaneously with a strategic investment from Waterfall Asset Management (Waterfall) and Atalaya Capital Management (Atalaya) in the combined business. The transaction closed on January 20, 2023.

Guardian is a leader in the furniture protection industry, offering protection plans for all classes of furniture. Guardian has earned the reputation for providing best-in-class protection programs and services to support the furniture retail experience. Guardian attracts and maintains long-term retail partnerships through its industry-leading customer relationship management tool, enabling innovation, customer connectivity, and superior analytics.

OnPoint is a rapidly growing insurtech, mobile solutions, and warranty services company building on a foundation of connected, multinational service networks, innovative insurance and marketing technology, and a global underwriter ecosystem. OnPoint creates brand loyalty through solutions designed to reduce risk, increase efficiency, delight consumers, and improve clients’ bottom lines.

The acquisition of Guardian provides OnPoint with entrenched capabilities in the broader retailer marketplace and will further enhance its warranty administration with proprietary technology developed specifically for the retail sector. The existing management team at Guardian, led by Jed Rovin, will remain with the company under OnPoint’s ownership.

Waterfall is an SEC-registered investment advisor that invests in asset-based credit and private equity across multiple sectors of the specialty finance and financial technology industries. Based in New York City, Waterfall has more than $11.2 billion in assets under management.

Atalaya is a privately held, SEC-registered, alternative investment advisory firm focused on making private credit and special situation investments in three principal asset classes: specialty finance, real estate, and corporate. Based in New York City, Atalaya has more than $9.7 billion in assets under management.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Guardian and assisted in initiating, marketing, structuring, and negotiating the transaction on its behalf.

This transaction further enhances Houlihan Lokey's position as a leading advisor to the automotive, home, and consumer product warranty sectors. In addition to the sale of Guardian, recent successful transactions include the sales of AUL and Revolos to Protective Life; Vehicle Administrative Services’ sale to Brown & Brown, Inc.; National Automotive Expert’s sale to Portfolio Holding, Inc.; American Financial and Automotive Services’ sale to Assurant, Inc.; Spectrum Automotive Holdings’ acquisition of CalTex Protective Coatings; American Auto Guardian’s sale to Amynta Group; Penn Warranty Corporation’s sale to Kingsway Financial; 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty’s sale to Genstar Capital; Portfolio Holding, Inc.’s sale to Abry Partners; and National Auto Care’s sale to Lovell Minnick Partners, among many others.