USS Zumwalt destroyer (DDG-1000)
The Company: Fairmount Automation delivers innovative control solutions to military, transportation and industrial automation markets. Its products are installed throughout the world, controlling a wide variety of mission-critical and safety-critical processes and machinery.
Dr. Andres Lebaudy and Mr. Gary Cane founded Fairmount Automation in 1996, grew the business successfully and sold it to Colfax Corp ("CFX") in 2008.
The Investment(s): After a strategic shift within Colfax, the founders partnered with Driscoll Holdings to buy the Company back from Colfax. Because of some complexities associated with product obsolescence and extended warranty obligations, the transaction required more than a year to complete. We closed the investment with 100% equity to provide a debt-free balance sheet to support Fairmount's growth.
Value-Add:
1. Negotiations: Rob Driscoll led the negotiations for the purchase and structured the investment.
2. Real Estate: Rob later recognized the opportunity to reduce Fairmount's rent substantially by forming a real estate partnership with his Fairmount Automation partners to buy a vacant industrial building nearby and lease it to the Company. Through his contacts in the real estate brokerage and leasing community, Rob led the effort to identify appropriate buildings, selected the best option and negotiated the Purchase Agreement.
We closed the real estate purchase quickly with all-equity funding, completed renovations and later re-financed with long-term, fixed rate debt placed with an insurance company.
Now, Fairmount has a meaningfully lower cost structure and a secure and efficient long-term facility to continue serving our customers.
3. Health Insurance: To deal with ever-increasing health insurance costs while providing our employees with attractive choices, Rob led the effort to identify and structure an innovative new healthcare Plan.
This was adopted by 100% of our employees and has helped to contain this large expense item using Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Accounts as a form of re-insurance that can truly allow our employees to consume health care more intelligently and with greater choice.
Significantly, Fairmount's General Manager, Brian Callahan, was able to concentrate on serving our customers and building the business instead of performing these tasks during the entire process.
Dr. Andres Lebaudy and Mr. Gary Cane founded Fairmount Automation in 1996, grew the business successfully and sold it to Colfax Corp ("CFX") in 2008.
The Investment(s): After a strategic shift within Colfax, the founders partnered with Driscoll Holdings to buy the Company back from Colfax. Because of some complexities associated with product obsolescence and extended warranty obligations, the transaction required more than a year to complete. We closed the investment with 100% equity to provide a debt-free balance sheet to support Fairmount's growth.
Value-Add:
1. Negotiations: Rob Driscoll led the negotiations for the purchase and structured the investment.
2. Real Estate: Rob later recognized the opportunity to reduce Fairmount's rent substantially by forming a real estate partnership with his Fairmount Automation partners to buy a vacant industrial building nearby and lease it to the Company. Through his contacts in the real estate brokerage and leasing community, Rob led the effort to identify appropriate buildings, selected the best option and negotiated the Purchase Agreement.
We closed the real estate purchase quickly with all-equity funding, completed renovations and later re-financed with long-term, fixed rate debt placed with an insurance company.
Now, Fairmount has a meaningfully lower cost structure and a secure and efficient long-term facility to continue serving our customers.
3. Health Insurance: To deal with ever-increasing health insurance costs while providing our employees with attractive choices, Rob led the effort to identify and structure an innovative new healthcare Plan.
This was adopted by 100% of our employees and has helped to contain this large expense item using Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Accounts as a form of re-insurance that can truly allow our employees to consume health care more intelligently and with greater choice.
Significantly, Fairmount's General Manager, Brian Callahan, was able to concentrate on serving our customers and building the business instead of performing these tasks during the entire process.