MiBiz Growth Report: December 11, 2017

MiBiz Growth Report: December 11, 2017

MiBiz Growth Report: Dec. 11, 2017

 

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Dec. 11, 2017.

 

  • M&A: Kalamazoo-based Stryker Corp. intends to acquire Entellus Medical Inc. of Plymouth, Minn. in a transaction valued at $662 million. Stryker (NYSE: SYK) will pay $24 per share for Entellus Medical (Nasdaq: ENTL), an 11-year-old medical technology company producing products for minimally invasive treatments for ear, nose and throat (ENT) diseases. The deal is subject to approval by Entellus shareholders and federal antitrust review. Entellus in 2016 recorded revenue of $75.2 million, up 22 percent from the $61.6 million in 2016, with a net loss of $28.7 million. Through nine months of 2017, Entellus generated sales of $64.5 million and reported a net loss of $19.6 million. Guggenheim Securities served as financial adviser, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as outside legal counsel for Stryker.
  • M&A: Independent Bank Corp. will extend its presence in the northwestern Lower Peninsula with the proposed acquisition of TCSB Bancorp Inc. in Traverse City. In a stock transaction valued at $63.2 million, shareholders at TCSB Bancorp, the parent company of Traverse City State Bank, would receive 1.1166 shares of Grand Rapids-based Independent Bank stock for each of their shares. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2018, pending approval by regulators and shareholders at the privately-owned TCSB Bancorp. Traverse City State Bank, with five offices, had assets as of Sept. 30 of $346.9 million and $292.2 million in deposits, according to a quarterly financial report filed with the FDIC.
  • M&A: Grand Rapids-based office furniture maker Steelcase Inc. (NYSE: SCS) signed a definitive agreement to acquire AMQ Solutions, a California-based maker of height-adjustable desking, benching and seating for workstations, according to a statement. AMQ had revenues of approximately $37 million over the trailing 12-month period. Steelcase expects the all-cash transaction to be finalized during the fourth quarter of the company’s current 2018 fiscal year, pending regulatory approvals. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • M&A: Grand Rapids-based restaurant operator Meritage Hospitality Group Inc. (OTCQX: MHGU) acquired a pair of Wendy’s restaurants in Virginia and signed three separate asset purchase agreements for another 55 Wendy’s locations in the Eastern U.S. and Midwest, according to a statement. The deals, which are subject to due diligence and other approvals, are expected to close in the first quarter of 2018. Combined, the acquisitions should add more than $100 million in annual sales to the company, which expects them to be accretive to earnings. Meritage plans to convert the restaurants to its operating and accounting platform and remodel the stores to Wendy’s new design protocol. The company currently operates 253 restaurants in 12 states and employs 7,700 people.
  • M&A: Grand Rapids-based private equity firm Auxo Investment Partners has moved into the transport business with the acquisition of M/G Transport Services, a New Orleans-based barge company. M/G Transport operates a fleet of 250 barges in a market that runs from Houston, Texas to Mobile, Ala., and from the mouth of the Mississippi River up to Baton Rouge, La. M/G Transport serves the oil and gas, agriculture, and chemical processing industries. The management team and employees will remain with the company. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.
  • M&A: Kalamazoo-based Landscape Forms Inc. acquired Phoenix-based Kornegay Design, a designer and manufacturer of concrete planters, according to a statement. The company, founded in 2000 by Larry and Paula Kornegay, had marketed its products via Landscape Forms since 2010. The products will be marketed as “Kornegay Design, a Landscape Forms Company.” Landscape Forms will continue production at Kornegay’s facility in Phoenix. The deal was announced in September.
  • Expansion: Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC will invest $4.3 million to move its four local operations into one office at the former Klingman’s Furniture/Roger’s Department Store on 28th Street SW in Wyoming. According to a statement, the company, which does business as Advantage Solutions, expects to expand its sales and marketing operations and create 100 new jobs at the site. The company received a $550,000 performance-based Business Development Program grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to support the project. Advantage Solutions also had considered a site in Wisconsin, according to a statement. MiBiz broke news in May that Advantage Solutions planned to consolidate its operations to the 169,000-square-foot, “functionally obsolete” building.
  • Expansion: Plastic injection molding manufacturer Dura Mold Inc. plans to invest $1.4 million to expand its facility in Stevensville, Mich. by 8,000 square feet. The move for the Lake Charter Township company is expected to create seven new jobs. According to a statement, the company aims to complete construction on the expansion project by late March 2018. Dura Mold was assisted by Berrien County-based Cornerstone Alliance, which presented a tax abatement to trustees of Lake Charter Township.
  • Expansion: Tech company ITS Partners LLC plans to invest $2.5 million in a new Kent County headquarters, resulting in 68 new positions over three years. The expansion is being supported by Grand Rapids-based economic development organization The Right Place Inc. and the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which approved a $476,000 performance-based Business Development Program grant, according to a statement. The company has not yet finalized a space for its expanded headquarters, but expects the location to be in Kent County.