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MC Sign Co. sold to Los Angeles-based private equity firm


Erik Sine

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MC Sign Co. sold to Los Angeles-based private equity firm

MC Sign Co. of Mentor, which provides sign and lighting services to customers in the quick-serve restaurant, retail, convenience store and hospitality industries, has been sold by one private equity firm to another.

Sverica Capital Management LLC, which has offices in San Francisco and Boston, announced it has closed the sale of MC Sign to Los Angeles-based Caltius Capital Management.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Phone calls placed Thursday morning, Sept. 24, to Timothy Eippert, MC Sign’s CEO, and a Sverica managing director, Jordan Richards, were not immediately returned.

MC Sign was founded in 1953 in Ashtabula, according to a corporate history on its website. The company describes itself as “one of the largest providers of signage, lighting, and maintenance services throughout the United States and Canada.”

In a news release, Sverica said it acquired a majority interest in MC Sign in 2008. Over the course of its investment, Sverica said, it “guided the company through robust top-line growth, identified and entered high growth adjacent service lines and completed one add-on acquisition.”

Dave Finley, a managing director at Sverica, said in the release that MC Sign “has grown from a company focused on sign installation and maintenance, to a diversified facilities maintenance organization serving a number of trades including lighting and electrical. Both Sverica and management felt it was an opportune time to explore another financial partner.”

Eippert said in the release that Sverica “has been a tremendous partner” that “has helped MC Sign increase revenue by nearly 65% during their ownership.”

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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What is the payment history on the new guys?

 

63 foot Elliott v60

50 foot 8 ton crane/auger

Skid steer with forks and dirt bucket


www.signworksinc.com

www.wehangsigns.com

Signworks Inc.
Toronto, Canada
416-653-7227
1-877-912-7446

 

 

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I was wondering what was going on with them, over the last year or so. We've always done a few jobs for them every year. But the last 12 months, we've been getting more calls. Which we can not fit into our schedule. They would call late morning/early afternoon, and want a crew on site the same day. I think we did one job, since we were already down the street from it. They've always been good payers.

I guess with their new(er) mgmt style. We won't be doing too much work with for them. It just makes me wonder,how many phone calls they have to make. To get same day turn around on service calls?

Oh well, good luck to them. I hope they maintain their great payment times.

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Hi folks-

This transaction should have little to no impact on our Field Partners, other than the continued growth that it supports. Our finance partner won’t play an active role in the daily operations, just like Sverica (who has owned us since 2008) has not over the past several years. It’s the same management team paying your invoices out of MC Sign’s own checking account. We used to be a small company running two trucks out of Ashtabula, Ohio, so we understand how important cash flow is to you. If we expect you to complete our work on time, you should expect us to pay on time. It’s a 2-way street.

MC Sign Company isn’t the only national sign company who is partnered with a private equity firm; it’s becoming more common these days. Companies like Sverica and Caltius make their money by investing in successful, growing companies and selling after several years. The only reason for the recent sale is that we reached that point in the life cycle. I’ll be replying to another of these posts in around five years. J

Thank you to all our FP's for taking good care of our customers and helping us grow into the company we are today. We wouldn’t be here without you.

Karl Yoerg

VP, Service Division

PS – Mark, I hear you on the same-day / next-day calls. We try to stick to our standard of 3 business days, but more and more customers are expecting quicker turnaround. Most of our service jobs still have a 2- or 3-day lead time, but the average has definitely dropped. Still, we avoid the “fire drills” whenever possible. (Rush jobs are tough for us too. As you can imagine, it isn’t always easy to find someone who can go to site right away.) We appreciate it when you can squeeze those jobs into the schedule & understand when you can’t.

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Karl;

Is your maintenance going to continue through MC or will operations eventually be transferred to your new sister maintenance company, Divisions?

Divisions already has their network of service providers in other venues as the original post by Erik refers.

Or will they stay out of your turf?

Best

"Don't be afraid to see what you see" - President Ronald Reagan

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There are no plans to move MC Sign’s maintenance business to another company. It isn’t uncommon for a PE group to hold a few similar companies, but that doesn’t mean there’s any direct relationship between those companies.

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Hi folks-

This transaction should have little to no impact on our Field Partners, other than the continued growth that it supports. Our finance partner won’t play an active role in the daily operations, just like Sverica (who has owned us since 2008) has not over the past several years. It’s the same management team paying your invoices out of MC Sign’s own checking account. We used to be a small company running two trucks out of Ashtabula, Ohio, so we understand how important cash flow is to you. If we expect you to complete our work on time, you should expect us to pay on time. It’s a 2-way street.

MC Sign Company isn’t the only national sign company who is partnered with a private equity firm; it’s becoming more common these days. Companies like Sverica and Caltius make their money by investing in successful, growing companies and selling after several years. The only reason for the recent sale is that we reached that point in the life cycle. I’ll be replying to another of these posts in around five years. J

Thank you to all our FP's for taking good care of our customers and helping us grow into the company we are today. We wouldn’t be here without you.

Karl Yoerg

VP, Service Division

PS – Mark, I hear you on the same-day / next-day calls. We try to stick to our standard of 3 business days, but more and more customers are expecting quicker turnaround. Most of our service jobs still have a 2- or 3-day lead time, but the average has definitely dropped. Still, we avoid the “fire drills” whenever possible. (Rush jobs are tough for us too. As you can imagine, it isn’t always easy to find someone who can go to site right away.) We appreciate it when you can squeeze those jobs into the schedule & understand when you can’t.

Thanks for the reply. Now get your PM's to give me a chance on some service with a little lead time! :)

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We have worked with candy shick on a couple of projects and she has been really great! I wish we could help on more service calls but between you guys needing them done in 1-2 days and the nte of 300 bucks it doesnt pay. and most of the service calls where not for easy jobs, like servicing 7' tall LOWES channel letters.....

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