Cotton Creek Capital Announces Acquisition of ConeCraft, LLC
Austin, Texas – October 1, 2020 – Cotton Creek Capital (“Cotton Creek”) is pleased to announce the majority recapitalization of ConeCraft, LLC (“ConeCraft”), a leading engineer and manufacturer of customized equipment for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, ConeCraft designs and fabricates customizable bins, mixers, bioreactors, tube management systems and other equipment for research and production in the single-use biopharmaceutical market. Counting the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies, life science integrators, and EPCs as customers, ConeCraft customizes and tailors product designs to user specifications. ConeCraft’s facilities allow for on-site product testing and rigorous quality control prior to shipment, ensuring the end product meets both the customer’s expectations as well as strict ASME standards established within the industry.
“ConeCraft was founded with the purpose of providing our customers with technically superior solutions, produced with tight manufacturing tolerances,” said Jim Austin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ConeCraft. “We are excited to partner with Cotton Creek in support of the continued expansion of ConeCraft. Cotton Creek’s relevant experience and operating approach were what our management team was seeking as we enter ConeCraft’s next phase of growth.”
“Jim, Sarah, and the rest of the management team at ConeCraft have built a differentiated business by providing highly-engineered solutions to end users demanding stringent technical requirements. In a market experiencing substantial organic growth, that has been further accelerated by the current pandemic, it is an ideal moment for our partnership with ConeCraft,” stated Antonio DiGesualdo, Managing Partner of Cotton Creek. “We are excited to be a part of the ConeCraft team and execute on the substantial growth and expansion opportunities for the Company.”
Cotton Creek’s investment in ConeCraft is made through Cotton Creek Capital Partners III, L.P. and represents a continuation of its investment strategy of partnering with privately held lower middle-market businesses.
About ConeCraft
ConeCraft was co-founded in 2003 with a shared vision of creating better equipment for the pharmaceutical and single-use biopharmaceutical industries. The Company has 70,000 SF of shop space and maintains ASME code certification. ConeCraft strives to design equipment that improves the experience for the end users and specializes in engineering and fabricating equipment for single-use systems. ConeCraft holds patents to key features that make single-use systems safer, more reliable, and easier to operate. All equipment provided by the Company is available for Factory Acceptance Testing at their facility in Fort Worth, allowing customers to make any necessary modifications prior to shipment. For more information, visit ConeCraft at www.conecraft.com.
About Cotton Creek Capital
Based in Austin, Texas, Cotton Creek Capital is an operationally-focused private equity firm that focuses on investing in and growing lower middle market companies in manufacturing, value-added distribution, industrial, specialty chemical, building products, food and beverage and business services sectors. The Firm targets businesses with EBITDA between $5 million and $15 million, investing between $10 million and $40 million in equity ranging from buyouts, recapitalizations, buy-and-builds to corporate divestitures. Cotton Creek Capital partners with exceptional management teams, collaborating to develop a focused vision and execution plan based on company-specific objectives. Cotton Creek Capital’s senior investment professionals have invested in and advised privately-held businesses for over twenty years with an active approach that enables Cotton Creek Capital to work in concert with management teams to build market-leading businesses. For further information, visit Cotton Creek's website at www.cottoncreekcapital.com.
Media Contact:
Kate Boyd
P: 512-412-3306
kboyd@cottoncreekcapital.com