TopDown is Sold to Valesco Industries
Chattanooga, TN, March 22, 2022
River Associates Investments (“River Associates”) is proud to announce the sale of its portfolio company, TopDown, Inc. (“TopDown” or the “Company”) to Valesco Industries and a consortium of investors, including members of TopDown management. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
Headquartered in North Hollywood, California, with additional facilities in Oxnard, CA and Iva, SC, TopDown is a leading designer, manufacturer, and supplier of branded automotive aftermarket soft goods. TopDown is the global leader in aftermarket, OEM-quality replacement convertible tops and has a sizable and growing presence in aftermarket seat covers, interiors, and aftermarket Jeep tops. TopDown’s portfolio of brands include GAHH, Robbins, E-Z ON, and CalTrend.
Throughout its ownership of TopDown, River Associates and the management team focused on maintaining and strengthening the Company’s leading position in the U.S. convertible top market while also expanding into new, complementary product categories. River Associates assisted TopDown with making several key hires to build out the management team; growing its ecommerce channel; making significant operational investments, including the implementation of a new ERP system; and completing four synergistic add-on acquisitions, including the acquisition of CalTrend which expanded the Company into a new adjacent and profitable product category, custom made truck and SUV seat covers. As a result of these organic and inorganic growth initiatives, TopDown nearly doubled in size and significantly enhanced its profitability during River’s ownership.
“River Associates was a fantastic partner,” said Rodney Wells, CEO of TopDown. “They proved to be exactly who they said they were when we first met them in 2018. They are very mature investors, and they understand when and where they need to be a little more hands-on and when to give us room to execute the agreed-upon strategy. They supported our vision for the Company and proactively provided strategic and financial support to help us achieve our goals. Their consultative approach and deep experience with companies of our size and nature enabled us to accomplish far more than we could have on our own in only about three and a half years, and we are well positioned for continued growth.”
“We thoroughly enjoyed working with Rodney and the entire TopDown team,” said Mike Brookshire, Co-Managing Partner at River Associates. “They are an extremely talented group, and their experience, passion, and dedication transformed the Company during our partnership. We are very appreciative of their spirit of partnership, their friendship, and all their hard work, and we will sincerely miss working with them. We are excited to watch the team continue building out the platform under its new ownership.”
Fritz Richards and Joe Peterson from the investment banking firm Prestwick Partners advised and represented River Associates and TopDown in the sale transaction.