About the Transaction
Worldwide Protective Products (“Worldwide”) designs and manufactures personal protective equipment for workers in high-risk industries. Worldwide designs and manufactures cut-resistant knit gloves, sleeves and garments, and steel mesh protective equipment, and has been long recognized for its knitting and yarn technologies, as well as its custom design capabilities. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in New York and has production facilities in North Carolina, Massachusetts and New York.
The buyer, Protective Industrial Products, Inc. (a portfolio company of the Audax Group) is a leading supplier of hand protection and general safety products. “This is a natural fit,” explains Joe Milot, President and CEO of PIP Global. “There are synergies in manufacturing capabilities, yarn technologies and experience. Together, we will be a leading provider of American-made knit work gloves and protective sleeves.”
Audax Group is a leading middle market investor who currently manages over $13 billion in assets through its private equity and private debt divisions. Audax’s investors include prominent U.S. and international investors, including public and corporate pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, investment trusts, banks and private families. Over the past 18 years, Audax’s private equity business has closed 118 platform investments and more than 715 add-on transactions across the globe.
Audax is assisting PIP Global in its add-on acquisition strategy to help accelerate growth across personal protective equipment product categories and geographies. Specifically, the acquisition of Worldwide Protective Products will expand PIP Global’s product offering and channel penetration. Together with Worldwide, PIP solidifies its position as a market leader in providing hand protection and general safety products in North America.
Paramax Corporation, and its wholly owned subsidiary Paramax Securities, LLC, is a FINRA-registered investment banking firm focused on advising companies and shareholders in sell-side M&A transactions to strategic buyers at after-tax optimized prices. Paramax is headquartered in Williamsville, NY with an International reach through its partnership with Globalscope Partners, a leading group of corporate finance and business advisors operating globally to support M&A transactions. In addition to its sell-side advisory practice, Paramax engages with clients on buy-side and recapitalization transactions, as well as valuation and strategic consulting.
For more information on this transaction, please contact a member of our deal team.
