Saw Mill Capital Closes Continuation Fund

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y., May 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Saw Mill Capital Partners II, LP ("Saw Mill"), and funds advised by Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, today announced the successful closing of Saw Mill Capital CV, LP ("Continuation Fund."), which simultaneously acquired two related Saw Mill assets, Climate Pros and Industrial Refrigeration Pros. The Continuation Fund provides additional time and capital to further invest in each company's acquisitive growth initiative, while also offering liquidity to existing limited partners. Saw Mill investors were provided a choice to receive liquidity or continue their investment.

Climate Pros is a leading tech-enabled provider of mission critical refrigeration and HVAC repair, maintenance and modernization services. Industrial Refrigeration Pros is a leading provider of design, construction, repair and maintenance services for mission critical ammonia and CO2 based industrial refrigeration systems. Both companies in aggregate have grown from $90 million to over $550 million in revenues, creating meaningful value for Saw Mill and its limited partners.

The transaction was led by Neuberger Berman, providing a significant capital commitment. Accounts managed by Hamilton Lane also made a significant capital commitment.

"We are thrilled to partner with Neuberger Berman and Hamilton Lane in supporting the continued growth of both companies," commented Howard Unger, Managing Partner at Saw Mill. Tim Nelson, Partner at Saw Mill added, "This fresh and dedicated capital commitment will accelerate the investments in technology, organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, and provide the necessary time to realize the full potential of both rapidly growing companies."

"We are excited to partner with Saw Mill on this GP-led secondary transaction," said Ben Perl, Managing Director at Neuberger Berman. "We are impressed by Saw Mill's investment approach of leveraging proprietary research and competitive intelligence to inform their investments and position each company with an exceptional product, resulting in market leading organic growth rates."

Sixpoint Partners, Latham & Watkins and MDC Opinions advised Saw Mill on the transaction. 

About Climate Pros

Climate Pros is a national provider of commercial refrigeration systems service and modernization to leading retailers. Headquartered in the greater Chicago area, the company is a technology-enabled leader with over 1,600 employees and local presence across the United States. It has been ranked in Inc's 5,000 Fastest-Growing Companies for the past 10 years. For more information, visit www.climatepros.com.

About Industrial Refrigeration Pros

Industrial Refrigeration Pros is a full-service industrial refrigeration solutions provider serving the food & beverage processing, cold storage, and other cold chain industries. The company services customers nation-wide with its highly skilled workforce and expertise across multiple system and facility types. For more information, visit www.irpros.com.

About Saw Mill Capital

Saw Mill Capital is a middle market private equity firm experienced in partnering with founders of facility and industrial service, specialty distribution and niche manufacturing businesses. The firm provides a dedicated business intelligence team and a curated operational approach to each portfolio company to accelerate core organic growth and establish market leaders. Saw Mill has been helping leadership teams transform entrepreneurial companies since 1997. For more information, visit www.sawmillcapital.com.

About Neuberger Berman

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity, real estate and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. With offices in 26 countries, Neuberger Berman's diverse team has over 2,600 professionals. For nine consecutive years, the company has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). Neuberger Berman is a PRI Leader, a designation, since last assessed, that was awarded to fewer than 1% of investment firms for excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. In the 2021 PRI Assessment, the firm obtained the highest possible scoring for its overarching approach to ESG investment and stewardship, and integration across asset classes. The firm manages $427 billion in client assets as of December 31, 2022. For more information, please visit www.nb.com.

About Hamilton Lane

Hamilton Lane is one of the largest private markets investment firms globally, providing innovative solutions to institutional and private wealth investors around the world. Dedicated exclusively to private markets investing for more than 30 years, the firm currently employs nearly 600 professionals operating in offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Hamilton Lane has nearly $832 billion in assets under management and supervision, composed of nearly $108 billion in discretionary assets and over $724 billion in non-discretionary assets, as of December 31, 2022. Hamilton Lane specializes in building flexible investment programs that provide clients access to the full spectrum of private markets strategies, sectors and geographies. For more information, please visit www.hamiltonlane.com.

CONTACT:
Tim Nelson
[email protected]

SOURCE Saw Mill Capital