Bard & Company Sells Wheelabrator Group; Posting Attractive Returns to Investors.DENVER -- Mid Europa Europa, in astronomyEuropa (y rō`pə), in astronomy, one of the 39 known moons, or natural satellites, of Jupiter. Partners Purchases Portfolio Company, Marking Third Significant Transaction for Bard bard, in Wales, term originally used to refer to the order of minstrel-poets who composed and recited the poems that celebrated the feats of Celtic chieftains and warriors. The term bard in present-day usage has become synonymous with poet, particularly a revered poet. Capital in Ten Months Bard Capital Group, LLC and affiliate Bard & Co., today announced the sale of WG WG - Working Group Global, Inc., the industry-leading surface preparation and finishing equipment specialist, to the Emerging Europe Convergence Fund II LP, managed by Mid Europa Partners, LLP (Mid Europa). Wheelabrator Group, WG Global's main operating subsidiary, with revenues approaching $300 million, was acquired from U.S. Filter Corporation in 2003 by an investment group led by private equity firm Bard & Company. Richard Bard assembled the investor group and has been the Company's Chairman, focusing on the Company's turnaround, strategy and growth. This transaction marks a very successful portfolio realization of almost 3x original invested funds in less than 30 months. "Bringing leadership, focus and discipline to Wheelabrator under our ownership rejuvenated the business and was a very rewarding experience for me, the management team and our investors," said Richard Bard, Chairman and CEO of Bard Capital. "Our acquisition of Wheelabrator fully embodied our strategy to generate attractive returns for our investors by closely partnering with management teams and becoming deeply involved at all levels of the business to create value. Wheelabrator Group is well positioned to continue its focus on channel growth and expansion into Central Europe and other new markets; Mid Europa is an ideal follow-on owner of the business to invest in this growth." Wheelabrator Group is the world's leading designer and manufacturer of wheel blast, air blast and shot peening equipment. In its 100th year in 2006, the Company provides a wide range of factory floor surface preparation solutions and services to the aerospace, automotive, foundry, marine, medical and transportation industries. "This transaction is a major milestone in our development," commented Robert E. Joyce Jr., chief executive officer, Wheelabrator Group. "Central Europe has a key role in our growth strategy and Mid Europa brings to Wheelabrator Group investment and geographical expertise in the market segments we have targeted in the region. In line with this strategy we are significantly increasing our manufacturing capabilities in Poland, to further strengthen our position in these markets. Central Europe is also at the very heart of Mid Europa's investment philosophy, making them the perfect partner for us to achieve our next level of growth." Bard Capital Group was formed by Richard H. Bard, Chairman and CEO and Michael A. Carrazza, Managing Director, to acquire middle-market industrial companies. This has included the 2005 acquisition of two nascent WG Global subsidiaries, International Surface Preparation Group (ISPG ISPG - Institute of Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology) and Blastrac Global. Both principals are actively managing the repositioning and growth of those businesses and pursuing the acquisition of a new middle-market platform company. ISPG and Blastrac Global represent over $100 million in combined revenues and will be grown organically and through industry consolidation. The Company engaged Lehman Brothers and Legacy Partners to advise on the sale of WG Global. Selling stockholders of WG Global include First Atlantic Capital, Hunt Capital, The GlenRock Group, and CapitalSource. About Wheelabrator Group Wheelabrator Group, Inc. is the world's largest provider of surface preparation solutions. It sells, designs, engineers, and manufactures trusted and established products in virtually every strategic area of surface preparation, across many industries, including the automotive, construction and rail transport sectors. WG employs 1,200 people worldwide and has sales and manufacturing locations in seventeen different countries. About Bard Capital Group Bard Capital Group, LLC is a private equity investment group formed to identify, acquire and manage operating companies that have a demonstrated ability of achieving increased profitability and shareholder value through active operating involvement, financial engineering and industry consolidation. Bard Capital's day-to-day involvement in the value creating process extends beyond what is commonly found in traditional private equity firms and functions with more of a family style, hands-on approach. The Group generally invests its own capital and becomes integrally involved with the operating management of each of its investments. Bard Capital has offices in Colorado and New York. About Mid Europa Partners Mid Europa Partners, LLP is the largest private equity firm investing in Central and Eastern Europe. Operating from London, Budapest and Warsaw, Mid Europa Partners advises and manages funds with committed capital in excess of EUR 1.1 billion. |
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