Chase Doors

The Business

Chase Doors Holdings, Inc. (www.chasedoors.com) is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based designer and manufacturer of branded, specialty doors and door systems for commercial and industrial applications. The company’s product offering includes a complete line of high-quality, made-to-order doors, including traffic doors, cold storage doors, sliding doors, corrosion-resistant doors, strip doors and roll-up doors marketed under well known proprietary brands, including Chase™, Durulite®, Saino™, Proline™, AirGard®, Econo Max™, ColdGuard™, DuraShield™ and FibRDor™. The company’s doors are used by industry-leading customers in diverse markets, including supermarket, retail, restaurant, industrial, pharmaceutical, food processing, cold storage and government.

The Industry

Chase Doors has established itself as the leader and most recognized manufacturer of high-quality, made-to-order specialty door systems. The specialty door industry is fragmented and ripe for consolidation – consisting of many small, owner-operated manufacturers serving numerous and diverse end markets. Management has identified approximately 50 targets with nearly $1 billion of combined sales for possible acquisition in management’s add-on acquisition strategy and future growth with new ownership.

The Process

Prestwick Partners initiated this transaction and acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Chase Doors (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Gladstone (McLean, Virginia). Prestwick designed an M&A process, prepared marketing materials, evaluated acquisition proposals and negotiated the transaction with Sentinel Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity group. Prestwick’s process consisted of a limited approach to a few private equity groups that would back management to consolidate the fragmented industry. The process took just over four months to complete.