Charter Growth Capital mezz fund invests in Keystone Solutions

Charter Growth Capital mezz fund invests in Keystone Solutions
Jim Medsker

Charter Growth Capital Fund, a mezzanine fund formed this past summer by Grand Rapids-based Charter Capital Partners, made its first deal with an investment in Keystone Solutions Group.

Keystone President Jim Medsker expects the strong growth the company has recorded over the last few years will continue. The investment from Charter Growth Capital Fund recapitalized Keystone and will go toward supporting further growth, including acquisition of an enterprise resource system, Medsker said.

The funding “will keep us on a nice growth path,” he said.

“This capital investment enables us to continue our commitment to innovation and grow our presence in new markets and geographies that are hotbeds of growth in the medical device field,” Medsker said.

Keystone provides product design for the medical device, aerospace and automotive industries, plus contract manufacturing for medical devices at its 50,000-square-foot facility in Oshtemo Township, near the I-94 and 9th Street interchange. The company employs about 45 workers.

Keystone also can benefit from the expertise and contacts Charter Capital Partners has in the medical device and life sciences industries. The investment firm also runs Michigan Accelerator Find I, a venture capital fund that invests in life science startups.

Terms of the deal with Keystone were undisclosed, although Charter did receive a minority equity stake in the company and a seat on the board of directors for John Kerschen, the investment firm’s president and managing partner.

Charter Capital Partners created the mezzanine fund to back lower middle-market companies in the Great Lakes region that need $1 million to $5 million in capital to grow, recapitalize the business, or make an acquisition. The fund targets profitable companies with annual revenues of $10 million to $50 million.

Charter Capital Partners seeks to raise $100 million for the fund.

“Keystone is one of the few holistic providers of both product development and contract manufacturing services for medical devices, providing value across multiple points on the product supply chain,” said Hector Bultynck, a managing director at Charter. “We are excited about their growth opportunities and look forward to translating that growth into meaningful returns for our investors.”