May River Capital Completes Sale Of Hunt Valve, Mission Critical Valve And Electromechanical Actuator Manufacturer

CHICAGO, Sept. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- May River Capital today announced that its portfolio company Hunt Valve has been acquired by Fairbanks Morse Defense, a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management. 

May River Capital acquired Hunt Valve in 2015.  Since that time, May River Capital and Hunt Valve management have driven substantial growth in the business through a combination of organic initiatives, supported by May River Capital's continued investment in talent and physical capital projects, as well as the success of a targeted buy-and-build strategy leading to the integration of three complementary add-on acquisitions. Today, Hunt Valve is an established, leading supplier of complex flow control solutions and electromechanical actuators to critical United States and Canadian Naval platforms.  

May River Capital partnered with its Executive Resource Group member, Brad Sterner, at the time of the initial acquisition.  Sterner first served as Hunt Valve's CEO and later as its Executive Chairman, and brought to the platform significant flow control experience from his tenure at several leading industrial companies. Sterner commented, "It has been a pleasure working with the Hunt Valve team and May River Capital to develop an industry leading supplier to the U.S. Navy and its prime shipbuilders.  We are proud of what Hunt Valve has accomplished, and we look forward to its future under Fairbanks Morse Defense and Arcline Investment Management ownership."

May River Capital also recruited Charles Ferrer to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Hunt Valve. Ferrer and the balance of Hunt Valve's senior leadership team will continue in their roles following the transaction.  Ferrer said, "Our excellent partnership with May River Capital over the last five plus years has not only fueled our growth but has also positioned us well for the next stage of development.  We have continued to focus on meeting customer expectations, particularly in handling the growth in our end market and focusing on quality and delivery.  Our customers continue to be great partners and we are excited to be part of the Fairbanks Morse Defense and Arcline Investment Management team which will further improve our ability to bring the highest quality solutions to our customers."

Steve Griesemer, Partner at May River Capital, said "The U.S. Navy's fleet expansion and modernization requires well capitalized suppliers who can make the requisite human and physical capital investments to meet the U.S. Navy's and prime shipbuilders' needs.  By enhancing and professionalizing the core Hunt Valve business and acquiring three highly-strategic add-ons, we are proud to have created a leading valve and actuator supplier to support the U.S. Navy's objectives.  We are certain that Fairbanks Morse Defense and Arcline Investment Management are the right partners for Hunt Valve's leadership to continue that growth."

Harris Williams served as lead financial advisor to May River Capital in connection with the transaction, with Duff and Phelps providing additional financial advisory services. Paul Hastings served as legal advisor to May River Capital.

About May River Capital

May River Capital is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on investing in lower middle-market, industrial growth companies.  May River Capital invests in high-quality industrial growth businesses, including precision manufacturing, engineered products and instrumentation, specialized industrial services, and value-added industrial distribution services.

For more information, please visit mayrivercapital.com.

About Hunt Valve

Hunt Valve is a long-standing manufacturer of mission critical valves and actuators used in the highest-priority submarines, aircraft carriers, surface combatant vessels, and other maritime defense platforms.  The company has facilities in Ohio and Montreal, which manufacture proprietary valve and actuator technologies for prime shipbuilders and the U.S. and Canadian Navies.

For more information, please visit huntvalve.com.

SOURCE May River Capital

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