January 6, 2016, Chicago – Akoya Capital Partners, a sector focused investment firm announced that Mark Breckheimer joined the firm as Managing Director and new Sector Leader for Industrial Distribution. Akoya’s business model and success is based on its industry sector and strategic focus led by former CEOs and executives with deep domain experience. Mark is a senior executive with 38+ years of professional experience including President of Kloeckner Metals Heavy Carbon Group and President of Primary Steel.
Mark is known for his ability to create and improve shareholder value through lean management, developing leadership teams, driving product line growth and creating robust digital strategies. He has effectively partnered with boards of directors, private equity sponsors, management teams and lenders and managed through rapid and profitable growth including closing and integrating accretive acquisitions. In his most recent role at Kloeckner, Mark was instrumental in completing numerous acquisitions, leading the group to become the third largest metal distributor and processor in the U.S. by volume, while increasing value-added business by 65% resulting in a 4 times EBITDA improvement during his leadership.
Prior to Kloeckner, as President of Primary Steel LLC and in roles of increasing responsibility before that, he and his management team were able to grow the company both organically and through acquisition from three locations with sales of under $100 million to seven locations with sales in excess of $500 million. During that period EBITDA margins increased from 3% to 12%. In 2007, together with a group of private equity partners and the management team of Primary, the company was sold to Klockner Namasco, unlocking the value created during the growth of the company.
“We are thrilled to have Mark on the Akoya team¬ as he brings significant knowledge of the industrial distribution and metal services industry and will allow us to continue to build¬ out our investment strategy of combining world class executives, well positioned companies, and fully developed value creation strategies to create significant value for management and investors,” said Max DeZara, Managing Partner of Akoya.
“I am very excited to be joining Akoya Capital Partners. The firm’s reputation for identifying, buying and growing businesses through active senior leadership and both organic and inorganic growth is a real differentiator in the marketplace. Akoya excels at robust human capital development, deep operational improvement and high caliber strategic planning, ¬ a combination that is unique to the private equity community,” said Mark.
The industrial distribution market is an attractive segment for investment given there are more than 80,000 companies (mostly privately held) of which many are growing at substantially higher rates than GDP trends. We are focusing on the value-added segment of industrial distribution which is benefiting from more manufacturers outsourcing distribution to better serve smaller customer needs while providing inventory management capabilities which are critical in today’s lean working capital environments.
We are seeking platform companies in a variety of categories. Our priority target segments within Industrial Distribution include (but are not limited to):
- Metals
- Power Transmission and Motion Control
- Specialty Chemicals
- Safety Products
- Gases and Welding Equipment
- Electrical
Investment Criteria & Characteristics Platform Companies – Industrial Distribution
- Enterprise value from $20 to $125 million
- Minimum EBITDA of $3 million
- Broad Client Base
- Strong Vendor Relationships
We will consider smaller companies on a selective basis or as an add-on acquisition. In addition to Industrial Distribution, Akoya seeks investment opportunities in the following sectors:
- Specialty Chemicals
- Consumer Foods
- Professional Information Services
- Consumer Products
- Industrial Manufacturing
About Akoya
Akoya Capital is a sector focused investment firm that creates and nurtures partnerships between management and capital. With industry leading sector leaders, proprietary platform organizations, experienced management teams and co-investors, we collaborate on compelling value creation opportunities. Together, we develop and execute industry sector acquisition strategies that deliver significant, measurable value for management, partners and shareholders.
Contact Us
If you know of a company that fits this profile, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss it with you.
Please contact Jason Apple at (312) 546-8301 (japple@akoyacapital.com)
