Alumnus Derick Marsh Completes Sale of RollEase, Inc.
Derick Marsh, a former partner of Gardner, Carton & Douglas, recently completed the sale of the Stamford, CT company he has been leading since 2005. Derick first got involved with RollEase when he represented a GCD private equity client in its purchase of the business in 1997. Derick then joined the private equity client as a principal in 1998 and led the sale of RollEase to London-based Nova Capital Management in 2007. By that time he was acting as President of RollEase, a role he continues to hold under the new ownership of yet another private equity firm, Minneapolis-based ShoreView Industries.
See press release below.
ROLLEASE COMPLETES GROWTH INVESTMENT TRANSACTION
Stamford, CT, August 8, 2013
RollEase, Inc. is pleased to welcome new investors and mark the next phase to position itself as the broadest supplier of high quality components and fabrics in the custom alternative window covering industry. ShoreView Industries, a Minneapolis-based investment company, provided growth capital to support the existing management team, operational structure, and new growth strategies.
“ShoreView has a long history of successfully investing in and supporting the growth of proprietary manufacturing and distribution companies like RollEase,” said Derick Marsh, the company’s President. “We had excellent support from our prior investment partners, Nova Capital, who had been with us for six years and supported us during our industry’s most severe downturn, but we have a heavy strategic agenda that includes accelerating product development, expanding significantly our distributed product offering, penetrating international markets and further enhancing our manufacturing and distribution infrastructure. This new phase in our development will take a number of years to implement and require substantial additional capital and human resources, so the time was right to find a new partner who shared our vision and had the intellectual and capital wherewithal to support its implementation.”
RollEase significantly expanded its product offering and infrastructure in the past three years as it grew its sales more than 30%, added several thousand SKUs, built distribution facilities in Lenoir, North Carolina and Phoenix, Arizona having more than 60,000 sq. ft. of space, and recruited additional personnel to upgrade or staff a new product management group, a significantly enlarged sales and customer service group, and entire distribution center support teams. The company also invested significantly in automation and IT systems to maximize efficiency and further improve the market-leading quality of its products.
About ShoreView
ShoreView is a private equity firm based in Minneapolis with approximately $600 million of capital under management. ShoreView partners with high quality management teams to invest in established companies with operations in North America, across a wide variety of industries. For more information, visit www.shoreviewindustries.com.
About RollEase
Founded in 1980, RollEase has become the essential source of innovative and high-quality products and services for alternative window covering fabricators in North America and elsewhere in the world. With over 5,000 discrete products, RollEase offers the industry’s broadest line of proprietary operating systems and components, as well as technical fabrics and other complementary products, and operates multiple distribution locations for cost-effective fulfillment. For more information visit www.rollease.com.
About Nova Capital Management Ltd
Established in 2002, Nova is a specialist acquirer of corporate and private equity portfolios, and currently manages a diverse group of portfolios representing a transactional value of some $1.8 billion. With a 20+ strong team of financiers and business executives, Nova currently manages investments in 29 businesses primarily operating in North America, Europe and Asia, across a broad range of sectors.