News

Littlejohn & Co. LLC has acquired Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based The Cook & Boardman Group, a provider of commercial door entry solutions. No financial terms were disclosed. Goldman Sachs, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc and KKR Capital Markets LLC provided the financing for the transaction.

PRESS RELEASE

GREENWICH, CT, October 22, 2018 – Littlejohn & Co., LLC (“Littlejohn”), a private investment firm based in Greenwich, CT, today announced that it has acquired The Cook & Boardman Group (“Cook & Boardman” or the “Company”), a leading specialty distributor of commercial door entry solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 1955 and based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Cook & Boardman offers a broad range of products including metal and wood doors, locks, doorframes, and other related building components for non-residential applications. The Company operates a network of thirty-five locations across eleven states, and services its customers nationwide.

“The acquisition of Cook & Boardman builds on Littlejohn’s expertise in the building products and value-added distribution sectors,” said Steven Raich, Managing Director of Littlejohn. “The Company’s technical expertise, comprehensive product offering, value-added services, and national footprint positions it as a critical and indispensable link in the commercial door and door hardware supply chain. We are excited to partner with Cook & Boardman’s management team to drive the Company’s next phase of growth.”

Darrin Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of Cook & Boardman, said, “This is an exciting day for our company, and we are thrilled that Littlejohn has recognized the growth potential in our business. We have successfully grown from a local to national business, while retaining our focus as a trusted partner to our suppliers and customers. Our Company’s full product suite and one-stop shop capabilities are a true strategic asset and we welcome Littlejohn’s support as we seek to execute on a number of initiatives to drive growth and further strengthen our value proposition to our customer base.”

Steven Kalter, Principal of Littlejohn, added, “Under Darrin’s leadership, Cook & Boardman has successfully executed a number of acquisitions of best-in-class regional distributors and become the preeminent platform in the highly-fragmented commercial door and hardware market. We look forward to further supporting the Company’s successful acquisition program.”

Financing for the transaction was provided by Goldman Sachs, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., and KKR Capital Markets LLC. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP provided legal counsel to Littlejohn.

About Littlejohn & Co., LLC
Littlejohn & Co. is a Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm focused on private equity and debt investments primarily in middle market companies. With over $7 billion under management, the firm seeks to build sustainable success for its portfolio companies through a disciplined approach to engineering change. For more information about Littlejohn, visit www.littlejohnllc.com.