Crestview Partners Completes Majority Investment Into Automation Systems Integrator, JMP Solutions

NEW YORK and LONDON, ON, Aug. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Crestview Partners, a leading private equity firm, announced today that it has completed a majority investment into JMP Solutions ("JMP" or the "Company"), an Ontario-based automation systems integrator. JMP is the first step in Crestview's strategy to invest $200 million of equity to build a market leading global automation solutions provider targeting the global $500+ billion market, with a particular focus on the $70 billion global systems integration and connectivity segments, delivering fully automated solutions to customers. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

JMP marks Crestview's fourth industrial technology investment in recent years and second investment in automation, following its acquisition of JR Automation ("JR") in 2015, which it sold in 2019. Under Crestview's ownership, JR expanded from $170 million of sales and five production facilities in the U.S to more than $600 million of sales and 23 facilities worldwide through both organic growth and four acquisitions, becoming a leading global provider of intelligent automated manufacturing, production and distribution technology. Other current Crestview industrial technology investments include ATC Drivetrain, Elo Touch Solutions and SyBridge Technologies.

Headquartered in London, Ontario and with additional operations throughout the U.S. and Canada, JMP is an automation systems integrator and automation services provider offering solutions to diverse industrial and consumer end markets. Founded in 1987, the Company designs, engineers and integrates hardware and software to automate its customers' manufacturing, production and distribution facilities.

JMP President Scott Shawyer and the rest of the JMP leadership team will remain with the Company in their current capacities. Crestview also plans to recruit additional team members to help execute its broad strategy to create a global enterprise with market leading technology, talent and solutions.

"This investment builds on Crestview's experience investing in industrial technology businesses to create global leaders," said Alex Rose, Co-President & Partner at Crestview. "We systematically look for niche markets where we believe we can increase the scope of products and services offered and the geographic reach of the businesses to create global solutions providers in markets that lack them. In spite of its size, importance and growth, the automation industry remains highly fragmented and ripe for the development of another global technology leader. We are excited to partner with the team at JMP to help accelerate the company's global growth and position the business for long-term success."

Mike DuBose, Crestview Operating Executive and former Executive Chairman of JR Automation, will serve as Executive Chairman of JMP and work closely with the management team to build out the platform.

Mr. DuBose said, "The $500+ billion automation industry is fueled by pervasive tailwinds, including rising labor costs coupled with falling robot prices, shifting global supply chains and growing demand for precise manufacturing and production.  These dynamics drove the industry's impressive growth over the last decade and have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased pressure to automate factories and warehouses and improve the resiliency of their operations have also accelerated demand for JMP's offerings."

DuBose continued, "JMP is the first of many companies we hope to bring together to create a global market leader with operations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. With increased scale and investment, we believe JMP can further develop its technology, engineering and integration capabilities to allow it to fully capitalize on industry tailwinds and become an even more value-added partner for its customers."

Scott Shawyer, who will continue in his role as JMP President and remain a significant shareholder in the Company, said, "We are proud of the legacy and reputation we have built with our customers by providing high-quality automation solutions in North America for more than three decades. In recent years we have seen increasing demand among manufacturers, producers and distributors to partner with a single-source provider that can deliver comprehensive automation solutions across their facilities on a global basis. As we look to the future, we wanted to partner with an investment firm that understood our business and shared our vision for continued investment and growth to allow JMP to continue to provide market leading solutions to our customers. We are excited to work with the team at Crestview as JMP takes this next step in its evolution."

Along with Scott Shawyer and Mike DuBose, Crestview's Alex Rose, Bradford Williams and Kirk Benson will serve on JMP's board of directors.

MNP acted as financial advisor and Miller Thompson LLP acted as legal advisor to JMP. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Stikeman Elliott LLP served as legal advisors to Crestview.

Founded in 1987, JMP is an automation systems integrator offering solutions to diverse industrial and consumer end markets. It designs, engineers and integrates hardware and software to automate its customers' manufacturing, production and distribution facilities. Headquartered in London, Ontario, with an established North American footprint consisting of 15 office locations across the U.S. and Canada, the Company's multi-geographic branch model provides it with a strategic advantage over smaller, sub-regional competitors, allowing it to provide targeted, local support while also growing with its blue-chip customer base across geographies and applications. For more information, please visit www.jmpsolutions.com.

Founded in 2004, Crestview is a value-oriented private equity firm focused on the middle market. The firm is based in New York and manages funds with approximately $10 billion of aggregate capital commitments. The firm is led by a group of partners who have complementary experience and distinguished backgrounds in private equity, finance, operations and management. Crestview has senior investment professionals focused on sourcing and managing investments in each of the specialty areas of the firm: industrials, media and financial services. For more information, please visit www.crestview.com.

Jeffrey Taufield or Daniel Yunger
Kekst CNC
(212) 521-4800
[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Crestview Partners

Related Links

http://www.crestview.com