P&M Corporate Finance (“PMCF”) is pleased to announce that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to DLH Industries (“DLH” or the “Company”) in its merger with Bowles Fluidics Corporation (“Bowles”), a portfolio company of Morgenthaler Private Equity (“MPE”). The combined entity will be known as dlhBOWLES.
Headquartered in Canton, Ohio, DLH is a Tier I and II full-service provider of highly engineered air and fluid management solutions for the global automotive industry. The Company operates 12 facilities located in key automotive manufacturing markets – Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas and Mexico. DLH’s vertically integrated, in-house capabilities include design and engineering, tooling, extrusion, injection molding, thermoforming and automated assembly.
DLH and Bowles possess proud traditions and offer highly complementary strengths, including product and process engineering, manufacturing capabilities and customer service. John Saxon, formerly the chief executive officer of DLH, and Dr. Sri Sridhara, formerly the chief operating officer of Bowles, will lead the combined entity as CEO and president, respectively.
“Morgenthaler’s investment in DLH serves as recognition for the reputation we’ve built over the last 40 years as a supplier of engineered plastic solutions,” said Mr. Saxon. “That reputation has been strengthened over the past decade through investments in key pieces of equipment and facilities, but, more importantly, through the efforts of our engineering, operations, quality and manufacturing personnel, all of which are critical to Company’s mission. We chose to work with Bowles and Morgenthaler not only because of the complementary strengths that were evident, but, more importantly, because of the set of values shared across organizations. We believe that the combination will bring benefits to our customers and end users as well as our employees that would not be possible while operating independently.”
PMCF was hired by DLH’s shareholders to serve as its exclusive investment banker and lead the sale process. Mr. Saxon noted, “We selected PMCF because of its extensive experience in both the plastics and automotive sectors and their track record of success in the middle market. Their knowledge of our business and industry were crucial to marketing the opportunity effectively. They represented our best interests throughout the entire process and we couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of the deal.” Phil Gilbert, managing director at PMCF, added, “It was a true pleasure working with John Saxon and his team on this transaction and we are excited to see the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead for dlhBOWLES in the coming years.”
The transaction closed on June 30, 2015.