Oak Hill Capital Partners to Acquire Imagine! Print Solutions

NEW YORK and MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Oak Hill Capital Partners ("Oak Hill") announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Imagine! Print Solutions ("Imagine!" or "the Company") from its founder, Bob Lothenbach.  Imagine! is a differentiated provider of printed in-store marketing solutions, delivering unparalleled quality and service on point-of-purchase and point-of-sale marketing campaigns.  Oak Hill is investing in partnership with Mr. Lothenbach, who will retain a significant minority ownership position, and the Imagine! management team.

Founded in 1988, Imagine! (together with its subsidiary Classic Graphics) provides retailers and other enterprises with a single-point solution for their complex in-store and brand-based marketing needs.  Over almost three decades, Imagine! has developed industry leading capabilities for in-store signage and displays and a "customer first" service culture that has resulted in demonstrable advantages in quality, speed, flexibility, and all-in cost.  The Company's suite of value-added services yields substantial efficiency gains at each phase of the value chain (design, production, and fulfillment) and helps position Imagine! as a trusted and valued partner to its customers. 

Tyler Wolfram, Managing Partner at Oak Hill, said, "Imagine! is an industry leader in a large and attractive market, and it has an impressive track record of double-digit growth since its founding in 1988.  We are excited to partner with Bob and his talented management team to support the Company through its next phase of growth.  This transaction is consistent with Oak Hill's longstanding theme-based investment philosophy and systematized approach to value creation, and builds upon our thirty year history of investing behind leading entrepreneurs and management teams."

Bob Lothenbach commented, "We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Oak Hill.  Imagine!'s outstanding management team and I selected Oak Hill as our preferred partner due to their strong industry knowledge, best-in-class operating talent, and appreciation for Imagine!'s culture.  Together, we will execute on our shared vision for the future and help Imagine! reach its full potential.  I am excited for what is to come.  I look forward to Imagine! delivering more value to more customers, and carrying on the tradition of superior service that has defined the business since I first founded it many years ago."

Kevin Mailender, Partner at Oak Hill, said, "We have tremendous respect for Imagine!'s heritage, its value-added business model, and the trusted customer relationships it has cultivated over its impressive history.  We believe Imagine! is well positioned to sustain its track record of outsized growth, and we are excited to take the business into the future."

The transaction, which is subject to HSR approval and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.  Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisors to Imagine! in the transaction.  RBC Capital Markets and Societe Generale and their affiliates have underwritten and will arrange first lien financing in connection with the transaction.  Dorsey & Whitney LLP is serving as legal counsel to Imagine!.  Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal counsel to Oak Hill.

About Imagine! Print Solutions
Imagine! is North America's leading provider of printed in-store marketing solutions.  The company's retail and brand-based marketing services breadth is unparalleled, enabling Imagine! to execute highly recurring, large scale point-of-purchase / point-of-sale displays and in-store signage campaigns.  Imagine!'s single-source capabilities include design, campaign production, kitting and fulfillment.  Proprietary, technology based services enable Imagine! to disintermediate customers' traditional, complicated supply chains to enhance quality, improve speed-to-market and lower total delivered cost.  Fortune 500 companies, Fortune 1000 retailers, quick-service restaurants, convenience stores and branded consumer goods companies depend on Imagine!'s customer-integrated store profiling, kitting, merchandising, inventory management and on demand e-commerce services to execute mission critical in-store campaigns.  Imagine! was founded in 1988 and is based in Minneapolis, MN.

About Oak Hill Capital Partners
Oak Hill is a private equity firm managing funds with more than $9.0 billion of initial capital commitments since inception from leading entrepreneurs, endowments, foundations, corporations, pension funds, and global financial institutions.  Over the past 29 years, the professionals at Oak Hill and its predecessors have invested in 80 significant private equity transactions across broad segments of the U.S. and global economies.  Oak Hill applies an industry-focused, theme-based approach to investing in the following sectors: Consumer, Retail & Distribution; Industrials; Media & Communications; and Services.  Oak Hill works actively in partnership with management to implement strategic and operational initiatives to create franchise value. 

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein may constitute "forward-looking statements", which relate to future events, the future performance, or financial condition of Imagine! following the acquisition of Imagine! by Oak Hill.  These statements are not guarantees of future performance, condition, or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Actual results and condition may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors.

Imagine! Print Solutions Media Contact:
Chris White
Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing
+1 952-903-4435

Oak Hill Capital Partners Media Contacts:
Jeremy Fielding / James David
Kekst & Company
+1 212-521-4800

SOURCE Oak Hill Capital Partners