Dubin Clark | Partnering with Management to Support Growth

Dubin Clark Announces Multiple Add-on Acquistions And Team Promotions

01 October 2021

BOSTON, MA & JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL – Oct 1, 2021 – Dubin Clark, a private equity firm focused on building niche market leaders in the lower middle market, announced the following acquisitions by current portfolio companies: CE Rental’s acquisition of Ooh Events; United Safety & Survivability Corporation’s (“USSC”) acquisition of Fireboy; Affordable Water Heaters & Plumbing, Inc.’s (“AWHAP”) acquisition of Thousand Oaks Plumbing; and DPI Off-Road Brands’ (“DPI”) acquisition of Toytec. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Additionally, the firm is pleased to announce several promotions reflecting its ongoing emphasis on growth and people development.

Add-on Acquisitions

Portfolio company CE Rental is a leading special event rental company that provides a wide variety of event rental equipment including tents, linens, fine china, flatware, dinnerware, tables and chairs, making it a one-stop solution for special event needs in the mid-atlantic market. CE Rental recently acquired Ooh Events, which was founded in 1995 and provides event planning and equipment rental services that are highly complementary to CE Rental’s offerings. Ooh Events’ product offerings primarily consist of bars, soft seating, lighting, and high-end table-top. The company is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina with a showroom and two warehouses for storage of all products.

Portfolio company United Safety & Survivability Corporation (“USSC”) is a leading manufacturer of innovative safety and survivability solutions for extreme-duty, niche transportation markets. USSC’s primary products are driver seats, passenger seats, fire suppression products and related spare parts, and UV lighting. USSC recently acquired Fireboy, which is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is a supplier of fire suppression equipment to a diverse set of customers operating within marine, vehicle and industrial end markets. Fireboy has developed a leading position as a manufacturer of reliable, trouble-free fire and gas detection and fire suppression products for the recreational and commercial marine markets across the US and UK. The acquisition represents a compelling opportunity for USSC to expand its fire detection and suppression product offering, while also allowing USSC to enter the marine vertical across all existing and complimentary product lines.
Portfolio company Affordable Water Heaters & Plumbing (“AWHAP”) is a leading in-home provider of water heater replacement, repair and installation services, including ancillary plumbing and HVAC services. AWHAP recently acquired Thousand Oaks Plumbing, which was founded in 1994 and is a plumbing and drains service provider for residential customers. The company’s service division offers installation, repair, piping and water heaters and the drains division offers drain cleaning, installation, hydro jetting and leak detection. Thousand Oaks Plumbing is expected to create compelling cross selling synergies with the AWHAP platform between the consolidated company’s water heater, plumbing and HVAC divisions. The company is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California and serves customers throughout the broader area.
Portfolio company, DPI Off-Road Brands (“DPI”) is an industry-leading automotive performance aftermarket parts manufacturer of lift and leveling kits and component parts for off- and on-road trucks, Jeeps, and multi-purpose vehicles. DPI recently acquired Toytec, which specializes in aftermarket off-road products for Toyota trucks and SUVs. Toytec offers its own proprietary branded products and other third-party branded products through its website direct-to-consumer and traditional B2B distribution channels. In addition, Toytec augments its product offering with complementary third-party accessories that are typically purchased in unison with suspension upgrades. The acquisition of Toytec brings numerous advantages to the DPI platform and is highly complementary to DPI.
Tom Caracciolo, Dubin Clark Managing Partner, commented, “We are excited to announce all of the aforementioned add-on acquisitions to our portfolio companies. These four strong businesses support our strategy of expanding our portfolio companies’ footprints, product offerings and customer bases. In light of the COVID pandemic, we are pleased that as a team, we have been able to successfully identify and execute such attractive strategic transactions. We look forward to continuing this momentum.”

Human Capital Update

Dubin Clark is also pleased to announce and celebrate two internal promotions, Matthew Broullire to Principal and Brooke DelPiccolo to Senior Associate. Additionally, Dubin Clark Managing Partner, Brent Paris, has been selected as Chairman of the Board for Beaches Habitat for Humanity.

Matthew joined Dubin Clark in 2016 and focuses on business development, deal execution, and portfolio company monitoring and support. Brooke joined Dubin Clark in 2019 and is responsible for business development and investor relations. Brent has served on the Beaches Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors since 2019 and is looking forward to this new leadership position.

About Dubin Clark

Dubin Clark is a private equity firm with offices in Boston, MA and Jacksonville Beach, FL. The Dubin Clark team is led by experienced private equity professionals who bring decades of success in lower middle- market investing. Dubin Clark targets lead or control investments in branded niche manufacturing and specialty services segments with at least $5 million in sales (less for add-ons). The firm’s mission is to create value by helping portfolio companies grow through a coordinated approach that includes providing the capital necessary to support internal growth, completing complementary add-on acquisitions to build market position, and helping to develop new strategies for the future while protecting the independence, culture and values that made the company successful. For additional information, visit www.dubinclark.com.