Littlejohn & Co. LLC., a private investment firm in Greenwich, has signed a definitive agreement to sell SunSource Holdings Inc., a distributor of fluid power and motion control technologies in North America, to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), a New York City private equity investment firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Addison, Illinois, SunSource is partnered with 400 suppliers across numerous end markets, including the infrastructure, construction equipment, oil and gas, agricultural equipment, mining and metals processing, food and beverage, and forestry industries. Littlejohn & Co. acquired SunSource in 2011 for an undisclosed sum and tried to sell the company in 2014, withdrawing it when no satisfactory offers came through.
“Littlejohn has been a valuable partner for the past six years, bringing its deep industrial expertise, relationships and operational experience to accelerate our growth plans,” said David Sacher, president and CEO of SunSource. With CD&R”™s support, SunSource remains well-positioned for our next chapter of growth.”
Clayton, Dubilier, and Rice recently fired the CEO of Brand Energy. That was a good move. They need to finish the job by getting rid of all the ex-GE people that the CEO brought in with him. Brand Energy recently merged with Safway.
Clayton shouldn’t let Brand executives waste money on golf tournaments and useless trips. The ex-CEO and his gang did a lot of that. They said it was for charity but it was a waste of Clayton’s money. Clayton should make the ex-CEO and Brand executives reimburse them for all past trips and expenses. That means all airfare, hotel, and other expenses for past trips should be paid back to Clayton. The ex-GE guy in Houston who was called President of Business Development should definitely have to pay Clayton back since he was a big part of those golf tournaments and events which wasted company money. He has the polish-looking last name. They had to keep him on the road all the time because he didn’t get along with anyone. Can you imagine how much that cost the company? Clayton should do a detailed investigation and accounting of those trips and tournaments. Don’t let Brand executives hide behind the “charity†excuse.
Clayton, Dubilier, and Rice is a PE firm very similar to KKR. They own Brand Energy. CHC Helicopter was turned around but Brand wasn’t. That’s because the CEO of Brand was too busy bringing in his friends and not firing them no matter what. That’s not how you run a company. CHC’s turnaround shows that Clayton needs to recover money from the ex-CEO, the ex-GE guy in Houston, and the rest of the gang at Brand immediately.