Houlihan Lokey Advises PECO Pallet, Inc.

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce the sale of PECO Pallet, Inc. (PECO), to Alinda Capital Partners LLC (Alinda) and Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd. (USS). The transaction closed on October 9, 2020.

PECO is one of North America’s largest providers of pooled rental pallets and services to the food service, grocery, and consumer products industries. The company builds, services, delivers, and manages distribution of its red, high-quality block pallets and currently operates a North American pallet pool network encompassing more than 80 facilities and 21 million pallets. PECO’s tremendous growth over the last decade reflects the company’s commitment to quality and service. Customers using PECO’s superior pallets experience less product damage, greater efficiency, improved safety, and significant cost savings.

Alinda is a global investment firm that makes long-term investments in infrastructure assets that provide essential services. Alinda has holdings in infrastructure businesses in 38 of the 50 states in the U.S., as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe. Alinda-owned businesses serve more than 100 million customers annually. Alinda’s investment partners are predominantly pension funds serving public sector and private sector workers and seeking steady investments over the long-term to match their pension liabilities. They include some of the largest institutional investors in the world.

USS is the largest private pension fund in the United Kingdom with £75 billion under management (as of August 2020). It has more than 400,000 individual members working at more than 340 higher-education institutions. It also invests extensively in infrastructure such as ports, utilities, and green energy.

Houlihan Lokey served as a financial advisor to PECO and assisted in marketing, structuring and negotiating the transaction on behalf of the company. This transaction exemplifies the continued success of our Transportation & Logistics practice and represents another transaction in a long track record of advising and delivering outstanding results for our clients.