Houlihan Lokey Advises The Hilsinger Company

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that The Hilsinger Company (dba Hilco Vision), a portfolio company of Blue Point Capital Partners (Blue Point), has been acquired by Windjammer Capital Investors (Windjammer). The transaction closed on September 6, 2019.

Hilco Vision is the leading global distributor of branded and consumable professional eyecare products and optical accessories throughout the eye healthcare supply chain. The company's highly diverse suite of more than 30,000 SKUs includes professional eyecare products required for the everyday operation of eyecare practices and stores, optical accessories that enhance its customers' sales, and additional value-added services that support its customers' branding and retail activities. Hilco Vision's expansive distribution network and e-commerce capabilities uniquely allow the company to serve as a "one-stop shop" for a diverse group of more than 40,000 customers in a variety of channels, consisting primarily of smaller, independent eyecare providers and optical retail chains as well as labs and non-optical customers. The company was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Plainville, Massachusetts, with operations in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Blue Point is a private equity firm managing more than $1.5 billion in committed capital. With offices in Cleveland, Charlotte, Seattle, and Shanghai, Blue Point's geographical footprint allows it to establish relationships with local and regional entrepreneurs and advisors while providing the resources of a global organization. The Blue Point partner group has a 20-year track record of partnering with companies in the lower middle market to facilitate growth and transformative change. It is one of few middle-market private equity firms with a presence in both the United States and Asia, which provides a distinct advantage for its portfolio companies.

Windjammer is a national private equity investment firm, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, and Newport Beach, California, that invests control equity in middle-market businesses and in partnership with management. Since its founding in 1990, Windjammer has managed more than $3 billion in committed capital and completed more than 50 platform acquisitions and more than 100 strategic add-ons. The firm targets investments in companies that are leaders in attractive niche markets and share several of the following characteristics: significant and defensible market positions, differentiated products and services, strong management teams, scalable business models, identifiable growth opportunities, and consistent financial performance.

Houlihan Lokey's specialty distribution and healthcare teams have earned a reputation for working with premier clients, providing superior client service, and helping to maximize value for clients through thoughtful positioning and a tailored M&A sale process. This transaction highlights the firm's continued success in advising market-leading, specialty distributors of branded and non-branded products, e-commerce channel expertise, and deep sector experience in vision products and related end markets.

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