BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
- APRIL 26
- MAY 2, 1996
Metapoint Partners Buys Equipment Maker
By David G. Barry, Journal Staff
Metapoint Partners, the Peabody-based investment firm funded by former
chief executive officers off some of the nation's largest companies,
recently acquired an Iowa-based maker of construction and environmental
equipment.
ATI Global Inc. of Delhi, Iowa became Metapoint's first acquisition
in 1996 and 11th overall.
Terms of the ATI acquisition were not disclosed.
Started in 1965, ATI had revenue of $16 million last year, up from
$12.5 million in 1994. The company had previously been owned by a group
of private investors.
Among its investors are: Harold "Red" Poling, former CEO
of Ford Motor Co.; Joseph Williams, former CEO of Warner-Lambert; Thomas
Holmes, former CEO of Ingersoll-Rand Co.; Burnell Roberts, former CEO
of Mead Corp.; Martin Walker, ex-CEO of Rockwell International; and
Charles Exley, former CEO of NCR Corp.
Started in 1988, Metapoint today has about $32 million under management
and employs about 144 people.
ATI was introduced to Metapoint by a Midwestern business broker, said
Keith Shaughnessy, Metapoint's president and former head of Bank of
Boston's acquisition division.
"It fits very well with our general acquisition criteria,"
Shaughnessy said. "We look to acquire companies that make products
sold to commercial or industrial companies."
ATI sells backhoe and trencher attachments under the Bradco name to
the skid steer loader and tractor markets. Its Scat Engineering division
produces compost turning and aerating equipment.
Metapoint will be focused on growing ATI, especially through add-on
acquisitions, Shaughnessy said.
The management team will stay in place, but the company's board will
include Shaughnessy; E. Paul Casey, Metapoint's chairman and former
CEO of Ex-Cell-O Corp.; Holmes, the former CEO of Ingersoll-Rand Co.;
William Mulligan, a former executive vice president of Ingersoll-Rand;
and J. Scott Webster, ATI's president.
Metapoint is looking for additional acquisitions and may seek to raise
a third fund as early as next year.
The firm initially raised $11 million from investors found by Casey,
who started Metapoint after Ex-Cell-O, the tool company he headed, was
acquired by Providence-based Textron Inc.
Metapoint's first fund was hugely successful, generating returns of
some 45 percent. The firm went back to its investors, as well as others,
and raised an additional $21 million in 1993.
A third fund would be about the same size, Shaughnessy said.
Metapoint's focus has been on investing in manufacturers with sales
of $30 million or less. It taps its investors, many of whom are experienced
Rust Belt executives, for help in building its companies.
So far, Metapoint has made four investments with its second fund. Its
only acquisition in 1995 was Biddeford, Maine-based Wood Structures,
a $20 million maker of roof and floor trusses.
The second fund also acquired New Bedford-based Julius Koch USA Inc.,
a $15 million maker of cords used in window shades.
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