Displaying items tagged: mergers and acquisitions

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Feb. 2, 2016:

A pair of deals would give Chemical Financial Corp. and Huntington Bancshares Inc. larger footprints in Michigan and could renew the momentum for bank M&A in the state.

The Kalamazoo-based Stryker (NYSE: SYK) is buying Sage Products from private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners in Chicago. The Cary, Ill.-based Sage Products had sales of $430 million in 2015, a 13-percent increase from the prior year.

After a decade of steady growth, one Northern Michigan hop farm and processing company plans to ramp up its operations with an injection of capital from an in-state private equity firm.

The acquisition gives the Grand Rapids-based Service Express a market presence in the Pittsburgh area. Founded in 1986, the company services more than 2,500 maintenance customers through 33 offices in 15 states.

Fleet Engineers Inc. of Muskegon has expanded its truck and trailer business with the acquisition of Charlotte, N.C.-based Save-A-Load Inc., a maker of cargo bars for tractor trailers and pickups.

What executives tout as a “merger of equals” with Chemical Financial Corp. represents what one institutional shareholder for Talmer Bancorp Inc. considers a deal that should get voted down.

Fixture Finders LLC, a retailer of used shelving systems, has been acquired by Illinois-based Hilco Merchant Resources LLC, a division of business service provider Hilco Global, according to a statement released yesterday.

Mill Steel Co. announced today that it will consolidate its Louisville-based Steel Structural Products LLC business into its operations at the Port of Indiana, Jeffersonville.

Chemical Financial Corp. plans to acquire Talmer Bancorp Inc. in a $1.1 billion deal that will create one of the largest banks in the Midwest.

Open Systems Technologies Inc. of Grand Rapids has acquired Grand Rapids-based design consulting firm Visualhero Design Inc.

Quality Aluminum Products Inc. — a maker of siding, gutters, roof edging and other exterior products for the residential housing industry — became the seventh portfolio company for the Grand Rapids-based Blackford Capital’s Michigan Prosperity Fund.

Despite a long career in the beer distribution business, Keith Klopcic lacked expertise in making the beverages he sold to bars and retailers around the state of Michigan. So when the opportunity arose to buy Comstock Park-based Perrin Brewing Co. last year, he tapped a partner with extensive craft brewing resources who had the know-how to help him continue scaling up the business.

Mike Damstra’s chance to fill a gap in his company’s service footprint along the lakeshore arose last year when North Ottawa Community Health System came knocking.

Two months after fending off a hostile takeover bid, Perrigo Co. plc raised its earnings expectations for 2016, a byproduct of projected growth and a cost-cutting plan the company launched last fall.

After running as lean as possible in the years following the recession, West Michigan manufacturers are embracing acquisitions as a strategy to add capacity and meet customer demand. That was the case for Grand Rapids-based Mill Steel Co. when it acquired certain assets of S&S Steel Services Inc. of Anderson, Ind.

Chairman and CEO Mike Price told investors that the Grand Rapids-based Mercantile Bank (Nasdaq: MBWM) remains open to M&A, and even a transaction similar to the $151.5 million “merger of equals” it completed in July 2014 with the former Firstbank Corp.

Grand Rapids-based Windquest Group Inc., the family office for Amway scion Dick DeVos and his wife, Betsy DeVos, that invests in a portfolio of companies, is getting into the booze-making business, MiBiz has learned.

The Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine completed the acquisition of the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center on Jan. 1. The medical school plans to use the Innovation Center to expand its research work.

The Grand Haven health system’s sale of North Ottawa Home Care Equipment was effective Jan. 1. CareLinc, which now has 20 locations in Michigan, retained the Grand Haven retail location, filling in a gap to its footprint in the lakeshore market where the company also has stores in Holland and Ludington.

Mill Steel Co. of Grand Rapids purchased certain assets of S&S Steel Services Inc. of Indianapolis, Ind., according to a statement. The deal that closed Jan. 11 helps Mill Steel expand its product portfolio and geographic presence.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Jan. 11, 2016.

Gypsum Supply Co. Inc. of Byron Center has been acquired by Georgia-based Gypsum Management & Supply (GMS), a distributor of specialty interior building products.

A mega merger of two West Michigan credit unions has been called off. Instead of joining operations, Lake Michigan Credit Union in Grand Rapids and St. Joseph-based United Federal Credit Union will remain independent entities.

Netech Corp., a family-owned business founded 19 years ago by James Engen in Grand Rapids, has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Presidio Inc. of New York City.

Precision Aerospace Corp. has acquired the assets of Comstock Park-based CNC Precision Machining LLC, according to a statement released today.