Boston, MA – Audax Group has completed the sale of Distribution International (“DI”) to Advent International (“Advent”). Headquartered in Houston, Texas, DI is a leading value-added distributor and fabricator of mechanical insulation and related products in North America.
Since Audax’ initial investment in DI in 2010, EBITDA has grown more than 3.5 times driven by market growth, share gains, and add-on acquisitions. Organic growth was spurred by a new executive management team that drove operational improvements through pricing, procurement, and sales force optimization initiatives. Eleven add-on acquisitions helped to solidify DI’s competitive footprint in the Gulf Coast and expand its reach into the Northeast, Midwest and Western US and Eastern and Western Canada.
Young Lee, Managing Director, Audax Group, said: “Celeste and the DI team have done an excellent job scaling the company through organic initiatives and add-on acquisitions to create the leading provider of insulation in North America. We wish the company continued success in its next leg of growth.”
Celeste Mastin, CEO, Distribution International, said: “Audax Group’s expertise in helping us execute our buy and build strategy was essential for improving DI’s market position and expanding our end markets, geographic presence, and product categories. We’re excited to retain their expertise and experience through a minority equity position alongside Advent going forward.”
Harris Williams & Co. advised DI. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to DI, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges served as legal counsel to Advent.
About DI:
Audax Private Equity acquired DI in August 2010 as a leading value-added distributor of specialty insulation with operations in the Gulf Coast and Mid-Atlantic US. Today, DI is North America’s largest distributor of mechanical insulation serving industrial, commercial, marine, and railcar end-markets. DI supplies 42,000 products to over 9,500 customers through 64 branches in the US and Canada.
