Presco Polymers Acquires William Frick & Company
Chattanooga, TN, January 19, 2021
River Associates Investments (“River Associates”), a longstanding lower middle market private equity firm based in Chattanooga, TN, announced the acquisition of William Frick & Company (“Frick”) by its Sherman, TX based portfolio company Presco Polymers (“Presco”). The acquisition closed on December 22, 2020. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. The completion of this investment marks the 100th for River Associates.
Frick is a designer, manufacturer and value-added reseller of specialty labeling and marking products including custom labels, signs, tags, markers, nameplates, and radio frequency identification (RFID) products to the Utility (electric, telecommunications, cablevision), OEM, Aerospace, Logistics, and Asset Management industries. Frick will retain their current name and will continue to operate in Libertyville, Illinois.
“Presco is pleased to announce its recent acquisition of William Frick & Company,” said Lisa McGregor, CEO of Presco. “For the past few years, Presco’s mission has been to become the leading provider of safety marking and damage prevention products. The acquisition of Frick brings us one step closer to accomplishing this goal. The combination of resources, services and extension of products opens numerous opportunities for both entities.”
Jeff Brandt, President of Frick commented, “Presco’s tenure and reputation in the industry set them apart during our sale process. Their support and respect for our products made us confident that joining our companies was the right decision. We are fortunate to have found such a synergistic partnership and look forward to our next chapter with Presco.”
Together with its previous acquisition of Pro Line Safety Products (Pro Line), Presco is a well-known manufacturer of safety marking and damage prevention products. The addition of Frick to the Presco family creates a market leading platform with superior scale and capabilities. The merger capitalizes on strong cross-selling opportunities while diversifying the companies’ product portfolios.
Formed in 1943, Presco manufactures safety marking products along with extruded engineered films and laminated product in two dedicated manufacturing facilities in Sherman, TX. These facilities house three custom compounding and extrusion lines and over forty custom stake flag and tape converting lines for Safety Marking Products. Pro Line, a late 2019 Presco acquisition, manufactures tracer wire and safety marking products including detectable and non-detectable tapes for underground marking and locating. Frick adds to Presco’s portfolio of offerings and further expands the reach to existing and complimentary markets.
River Associates and the management team at Presco continue to seek complementary strategic acquisition partners for the company. For more information reach out to Mark Jones.