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September 5, 2023

Wynnchurch Capital Exits Midland Industries

Rosemont, IL – September 5, 2023 – Wynnchurch Capital, L.P. (“Wynnchurch”), a leading middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that it has sold Midland Industries, LLC (“Midland” or the ​“Company”) to Gemspring Capital Management, LLC (“Gemspring”). Wynnchurch also coinvested alongside Gemspring in the transaction.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, Midland is a value-added distributor and manufacturer of fittings, valves, clamps, hoses, and related products for a wide variety of manufacturing, plumbing, utilities, HVAC, fluid power, and other general industrial end markets. Following Wynnchurch’s investment in January 2018, Midland completed seven acquisitions, opened distribution facilities in the Southeast and Northwest U.S., optimized its go-to-market e‑commerce strategy, and made investments in talent, systems, and automation to drive growth.

Greg Gleason, Managing Partner at Wynnchurch, stated, ​“Midland represented an opportunity to build an industrial distribution platform with a strong legacy of brands, diverse customer base, and differentiated e‑commerce strategy. We are proud of what the team has accomplished and are excited to continue our partnership with management and Gemspring during Midland’s next phase of growth.”

“Midland allowed us to partner with multiple founder-led and family-owned businesses to accelerate growth and unlock value,” added Chris O’Brien, Managing Partner at Wynnchurch. ​“By leveraging our deep industry relationships and originations team, we have been able to meaningfully scale the platform and create significant value for our investors.”

“Wynnchurch has been a great partner and provided us with significant support to help source and integrate multiple businesses into the Midland platform. By centralizing operations and executing our growth strategy, we have been able to provide our customers with industry-leading service levels and a broadened offering of products,” said John Gerber, CEO of Midland.

Paul Hastings LLP provided legal advice to Wynnchurch in connection with the transaction, and Harris Williams and KeyBanc served as financial advisors.

Wynnchurch is actively seeking investment opportunities for its $2.277 billion Fund V. In January 2023, Wynnchurch acquired FloWorks, a distributor of critical flow control products. Other recent Wynnchurch investments include: Industrial Service Solutions, a national provider of MRO-focused field, shop, and supply services; FCA, a leading manufacturer of customized industrial protective packaging solutions; Mattress Warehouse, a leading independent mattress retailer with over 300 locations; and Premier Franchise Management, the largest U.S. residential pool-build and pool-service franchisor.

About Midland:

Midland is a value-added distributor and manufacturer of fittings, valves, clamps, hoses, and related products across North America. The Company offers a full-suite of mission-critical products to distributors, manufacturers, and retailers that address a wide range of industrial applications. Based in Kansas City, MO, Midland has over 250 employees and operates 11 facilities in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, please visit: www​.mid​landin​dus​tries​.com.

About Wynnchurch Capital:

Wynnchurch Capital, L.P., headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, with an affiliate in Canada, was founded in 1999 and is a leading middle-market private equity investment firm. Wynnchurch’s strategy is to partner with middle market companies in the United States and Canada that possess the potential for substantial growth and profit improvement. Wynnchurch manages a number of private equity funds with $5.7 billion of regulatory assets under management and specializes in recapitalizations, growth capital, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs, and restructurings. For more information, please visit: www​.wyn​nchurch​.com.

About Gemspring Capital:

Gemspring Capital, a Westport, Connecticut-based private equity firm with $3.4 billion of capital under management, provides flexible capital solutions to middle market companies. Gemspring partners with talented management teams and takes a partnership approach to helping drive revenue growth, value creation, and sustainable competitive advantages. Gemspring targets companies with up to $1 billion in revenue in the aerospace & defense, business services, consumer, financial and insurance services, healthcare services, industrial services, software and tech-enabled services, or specialty manufacturing sectors. For more information, please visit: www​.gem​spring​.com.

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