Castle Harlan is a

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The company focuses on

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity, or a controlling interest of a company, or a majority share of the capital stock of the company is acquired. The acquirer thereby "buys out" the present equity holde ...

s and

growth capital Growth capital (also called expansion capital and growth equity) is a type of private equity investment, usually a minority interest, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new markets ...

investments in

middle-market companies A middle-market or mid-market company is one that is larger than a small business and smaller than a big business. Different authorities use different metrics to compare company sizes — some look at revenue, others at either asset size or number ...

across a range of industries. Founded in 1987, Castle Harlan invests in controlling interests in middle-market companies in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

through Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners. Castle Harlan's team of 18 investment managers has completed over 50 acquisitions since its inception with a total value of approximately $10 billion. The firm currently manages investment funds with equity commitments of approximately $3.5 billion. Castle Harlan has invested, through its five domestic funds, in more than 55 platform businesses that totaled over $11 billion of enterprise value.

History

Castle Harlan was founded in 1987 by John K. Castle and Leonard M. Harlan, but its history goes back to the 1960s. During the 60s John Castle headed all of the private equity activities, including the Sprout Capital Group, at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ). At that time DLJ used some of the first limited partnerships to bring institutional investors into private equity investing. From the period between 1979 and 1986, Castle rose to become the president and chief executive officer at DLJ. Leonard Harlan joined DLJ in 1965. Harlan left DLJ in 1969, and formed a real estate investment group, The Harlan Company. In 1987, Castle and Harlan, with a few others raised $125 million for its new limited partnership, Legend Capital Group, L.P., to invest in leveraged buyout transactions. In 1999, Castle Harlan teamed with Bill Ferris and Joseph Skrzynski of Australian Mezzanine Investments to create Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners, also known as CHAMP. CHAMP focuses on control investments in middle-market businesses in

and

with similar criteria to Castle Harlan. CHAMP also has an affiliate, CHAMP Ventures, that invests in small buyouts, non-control growth capital and venture capital. CHAMP raised its second fund with A$950 million of investor commitments in 2005 and its third fund with A$1.5 billion in 2010. On April 17, 2018, Castle Harlan announced its agreement to purchase the oil and gas production equipment assets of Exterran Corporation. The deal resulted in the creation of a new company, Titan Production Equipment. The sale was closed in summer 2018, and Titan Production Equipment launched in July 2018. In August 2019, Castle Harlan, together with Branford Castle Partners, purchased Sunless Inc., a spray tanning equipment manufacturer, from The Riverside Company. In October 2019, the company sold one of its portfolio companies, Gold Star Foods, to Highview Capital. Castle Harlan purchased Gold Star in April 2014. By November 2019, the firm had the following five investments: Sunless, Shelf Drilling, Caribbean Restaurants LLC, Titan Production Equipment and Tensar Corp.

Investments vehicles

Private equity funds

Since its launch, Castle Harlan has participated in the following eight private equity funds. Five located in the United States, and three in Australia: The following are the U.S. based funds:

Portfolio companies

Castle Harlan co-owns

Bravo Brio Restaurant Group Brio Italian Grille and Bravo! Italian Kitchen (formerly known as Brio Tuscan Grille and Bravo! Cucina Italiana) are American upscale casual dining restaurant chains that specialize in Italian-American cuisine. The chains were established in Colu ...

, Tensar, Polypipe Group, Horizon Lines, Ames True Temper, Austar United Communications, McCormick & Schmick's, RathGibson, United Malt Holdings, and AmeriCast Technologies.

Branford Castle, Inc

New York based private equity firm Branford Castle was founded in 1986 as a private market investor in companies with less than $100 million annual sales. It is run by brothers John S. Castle and David A. Castle. In November 2019 Branford Castle sold Surface Preparation Technologies to Dominus Capital and Drew Foam Companies, one of Branford's portfolio companies, purchased Davis Core & Pad from owner Joel Davis. In September 2019 it bought Pulse Veterinary Technologies and in August, 2019 it acquired ABC Industries.

Awards and recognition

In 2019, the

Association for Corporate Growth Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

awarded Titan Production Equipment, an affiliate of Castle Harlan, the Houston Deal of the Year Award in the category of Restructuring and Turnaround Transactions.

References

Additional references

CASTLE HARLAN'S RICHES FROM NICHES
Business Week, November 11, 1996
Castle Harlan executive says fair-value rule has contributed to economic crisis
Private Equity Wire, December 16, 2008 * Polypipe: Castle Harlan Disconnects Polypipe. The Deal, Aug 14, 2007

External links

Castle Harlan
(company website)
Branford Castle
(affiliated company website) {{private equity firms Private equity firms of the United States Companies based in New York City Financial services companies established in 1987