Affinity buys Trimco from Partners Group for $520m

Trimco was founded in 1978 and produces garment labels, tags, and trimming products through subsidiaries in Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Singapore, India, the UK, Turkey, Romania and Bangladesh. It serves more than 500 clients worldwide and employs over 1,450 workers.

In a release Partners Group said the sale to Affinity had generated a 3.4x return on its original investment. During its holding period the firm has sought to enable Trimco's growth from an Asia-focused manufacturer into a global player. Value-add measures included the acquisition of Denmark-based industry peer A-Tex from Polaris Private Equity in 2015.

"Over the last five years, we have worked hand-in-hand with the Partners Group team during a period of continuous growth and development for our business," said Amy Wan, COO of Trimco. "Partners Group's global footprint and expansive network have enabled us to fast-forward our international expansion strategy through targeted add-on acquisitions as well as organic growth."

The purchase makes Affinity the third sequential private equity owner of Trimco: Partners Group acquired the company from Navis Capital Partners in 2012 for an undisclosed amount. At the time Navis said it had generated approximately $111.4 million from the investment through a combination of capital gains, dividends and repayment of capital, for a 10x multiple.

Navis exited another of its portfolio companies, Australian early childhood education provider Guardian Early Learning Group, to Partners Group in 2016 at a post-deal valuation of A$440 million. Guardian is also on its third private equity owner, having been purchased by Navis from Wolseley Private Equity for A$120 million ($110 million) in 2013.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Industrials
• Buyouts
• Trade sale
• Hong Kong (China)
• manufacturing
• Affinity Equity Partners
• Partners Group
• Exit