(New York, NY) – Cortec Group (“Cortec”), a New York private equity firm which invests in middle market consumer, specialty service, healthcare, and distribution businesses, announced that on April 16, 2015, a group led by its affiliate, Cortec Group Fund V, L.P. (“Cortec Fund V”), and Urnex management acquired Urnex Brands, LLC (“Urnex” or the “Company”). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1936 and headquartered in Elmsford, NY, Urnex manufactures a comprehensive portfolio of coffee machine cleaning products for commercial and household use. The Company’s products are critical to ensuring better tasting coffee, keeping brewing equipment clean and driving greater machine functionality and durability. A variety of brand names, including Urnex®, Puro®, and Full Circle® are familiar to customers around the world. Urnex maintains a loyal, long-standing and diverse customer base of leading coffee roasters, food service providers, equipment manufacturers, and retailers.
Joshua Dick, Urnex’s President and CEO, who will continue in his current role and retain a significant ownership interest in Urnex, stated “We were seeking a partner who would help drive Urnex’s expansion plans and support the Company in its next phase of growth.” He further stated that “Cortec’s relevant experience and track record of successfully investing in entrepreneur-led, high-growth businesses, as well as deep specialty consumer products experience was extremely important to me.”
Urnex has built an outstanding long-term track record of growth under Josh’s leadership, and has become the market leader in the coffee machine cleaning products industry. “The Company’s success is directly attributable to the Urnex® brand and its reputation for quality, efficacy and value among a broad range of commercial and household consumers”, said David Schnadig, a Managing Partner at Cortec. “We are gratified Josh chose to work with Cortec to support Urnex’s near and longer-term growth objectives,” added Mike Najjar, also a Managing Partner at Cortec. “We are thrilled to be partnering with a great team and look forward to building on the Company’s outstanding track record of success.” The Urnex acquisition represents Cortec Fund V’s seventh platform investment.
Robert W. Baird & Co. served as financial advisor to Urnex.
About Urnex
Urnex manufactures and markets coffee machine cleaning products to a variety of end markets in more than 70 countries. The Company offers a comprehensive portfolio of coffee machine cleaning, descaling and sanitizing products in a variety of forms (e.g., liquid, tablet, powder, etc.) which are sold under the Urnex®, Puro®, and Full Circle® brand names, among others. These products are sold to leading coffee chains, foodservice providers, machine manufacturers, and retailers. Urnex operates from a headquarters and manufacturing facility in Elmsford, New York. For additional information, please visit http://www.urnex.com.
About Cortec
Founded in 1984, Cortec acquires high value-added, middle-market consumer, healthcare, and specialty products, service, and distribution businesses from owners and management teams who want to work with Cortec to drive growth and improve business fundamentals. Additional information about Cortec can be found at www.cortecgroup.com.
