Australia's Anacacia completes final exit from debut fund
Australia’s Anacacia Capital has realized the final exit from its debut fund with the sale of its majority stake in workplace equipment provider RIS Safety to domestic investor Bricktop Group.
Financial details were not disclosed. Anacacia acquired RIS in 2011 for an undisclosed sum under a strategy targeting small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) with revenues of A$20-50 million ($14-36 million). The deal coincided with the investing fund being recognized as a global top performer by both Pensions & Investments magazine and Preqin.
RIS is said to have grown into one of the largest companies of its kind in Australia during the hold. Services focus on the design, manufacture and installation of height safety and fall protection products for industrial worksites. The company has branches in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, and Mackay, Queensland, and recently opened an office in New Zealand.
“Anacacia Capital has been an incredibly supportive shareholder for RIS Safety over seven years, there for us both in tough and good times,” Barry Johnson, CEO of RIS, said in a statement. “I have found their contribution as non-executive directors and shareholders to be invaluable in transforming RIS Safety into a much stronger business and leaving us and the new shareholders with a terrific platform for continued future growth.”
Anacacia claims to manage about A$600 million in funds targeting controlling stakes in private and listed SMEs with a focus on family-owned companies with succession planning issues in consumer, manufacturing, and services industries. Fund I closed at A$50 million in 2007 and its successor reached a hard cap of A$150 million in 2013. Fund III closed last year at A$300 million following an oversubscribed fundraising process.
Recent activity includes the acquisition of smart parking meter equipment developer Duncan Technologies - the first investment from Fund III - and the acquisition of safety alarm supplier Force Fire Services. Last September, the firm exited chilled snack food manufacturer Yumi’s Quality Foods, which it acquired in 2014, to George Weston Foods for an undisclosed sum.
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