Harris Williams & Co., a middle-market investment bank focused on the advisory needs of clients worldwide, announced the sale of A&R Logistics, Inc. (A&R) to Mason Wells and industry executives and investors Mark Holden and Rich Mitchell. Joining Mason Wells and the industry executives in the transaction were members of the existing A&R management team and other investors.
A&R is a provider of dry bulk transportation, packaging, distribution, and logistics solutions serving the chemical and plastic industries in North America. A&R was a portfolio company of FdG Associates.
Harris Williams & Co. acted as a financial advisor to A&R. The transaction recently closed and was led by Jason Bass, Frank Mountcastle, Joe Conner, Jeff Burkett and Jeff Kidd from the firm’s Transportation and Logistics (T&L) Group.
“With a strong market leadership position, compelling industry fundamentals and great prospects for continued growth, A&R represents a truly unique platform in the transportation & logistics services sector,” said Jason Bass, a managing director at Harris Williams & Co. and co-head of the firm’s T&L Group. “The management team, led by CEO Jeff O’Connor and CFO Brian Reichert, has built a tremendous business that today sets the standard in the dry bulk transportation industry for operating performance, safety and customer service.”
Industry investors Holden and Mitchell bring significant transportation industry resources and experience to A&R. Previously, Holden was president and CEO of Prime Distribution Services (PDS), a provider of transportation management, warehousing and other value-added logistics services. Mitchell was CFO and SVP of Corporate Development at PDS.
FdG, headquartered in New York, NY, is a private investment firm providing equity capital to North American-based middle market growth companies with sound businesses and unrealized potential.
Mason Wells, based in Milwaukee, WI, is a private equity firm that manages more than $800 million of capital through the Mason Wells Buyout Funds.