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David Brunori to Spearhead PoloPlaz Growth Plan – Joins Board of Valentus Specialty Chemicals
DETROIT – January 16, 2019 – Leading lower-middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital announced today that David Brunori has been named Executive Vice President and General Manager of Jacksonville, Arkansas-based PoloPlaz, Inc. (“PoloPlaz”) to lead the next phase of the company’s growth.
Founded in 1961, PoloPlaz is well known for high performance wood floor coatings used for gymnasium and residential applications. The Company is a division of Valentus Specialty Chemicals (“Valentus”), a Huron Capital ExecFactor® platform formed in 2015 to pursue a buy-and-build investment strategy in the protective coatings industry.
“PoloPlaz is an exciting company that has earned respect across the sports arena industry because of its proprietary wood floor coatings,” Brunori said. “I am excited to be joining PoloPlaz and I am eager to build on the company’s nearly six decades of success.”
Brunori, 55, previously served as CEO of Brudner Polymer Corporation (“Brudner”), an initiative he co-founded with Huron Capital. Prior to Brudner, he was in charge of business strategy as Business Director (Americas) for Valspar Automotive and also served as President of Quest Automotive during a period of rapid sales growth. Quest was a portfolio company of Huron Capital from 2004 until 2011.
At PoloPlaz, Brunori will seek to deepen the management team and expand the company’s leadership in wood floor coatings for basketball arenas, dance floor, malls, museums and homes. He will report to Raymond Chlodney, President, Chief Executive Officer of Valentus Specialty Chemicals. Chad Baker, who has played an integral role in the day-to-day operations of PoloPlaz since 2002, will be leaving effective February 15, 2019 to pursue other interests. Brunori has also been appointed to the Board of Directors for Valentus.
“We want to thank Chad for everything he has done for PoloPlaz while simultaneously welcoming David. David has a track record as an industry leader capable of jumpstarting sales growth, developing strong management teams and integrating acquisitions. We are confident that he is the right executive at the right time to lead PoloPlaz as it pursues market share growth,” Chlodney said.
Said Huron Capital Vice President Mike Zukas, “The appointment of David is part of Huron Capital’s ExecFactor® investment model, our proprietary program that identifies seasoned, talented leaders and places them in charge of our portfolio companies and their business units. We have known him for many years and are excited about the future of PoloPlaz under his direction.”
About Huron Capital
Based in Detroit, Huron Capital is an operationally-focused private equity firm with a long history of growing lower middle-market companies through our proprietary ExecFactor® buy-and-build investment model. We prefer complex situations where we can help companies reach their full potential by combining our operational approach, substantial capital base, and transaction experience with seasoned operating executives. Celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2019, Huron Capital has raised over $1.8 billion in capital through six committed private equity funds and invested in over 150 companies, and our portfolio companies have employed over 11,000 people throughout North America. The Huron Capital buy-and-build investment model includes equity recapitalizations, family succession transactions, market-entry strategies, corporate carve-outs, and management buyouts of companies having revenues up to $200 million. Huron Capital targets both control and non-control equity stakes in fundamentally-sound companies that can benefit from the firm’s operational approach to creating value. Huron Capital’s sector focus includes business services, consumer products & services and specialty industrials. For more information, please visit: www.huroncapital.com.
About PoloPlaz
Founded in 1961 and located near Little Rock, PoloPlaz manufactures high performance wood floor coatings for gymnasium and residential applications. PoloPlaz was the trade name of the National Coatings products. Over the years, more and more customers began referring to the company by the brand name, so, in 2006, National Coatings officially became known as PoloPlaz. Today, the PoloPlaz brand name is well known in the gym sector and PoloPlaz products cover some of the most famous arena courts in the United States. PoloPlaz products are all made in-house from proprietary formulations. This approach ensures that PoloPlaz products are designed specifically for the intended application, and that quality can be maintained to higher standards. For more information, please visit: www.poloplaz.com.
About Valentus Specialty Chemicals
Launched in 2015, Valentus Specialty Chemicals is a holding company focused on partnering with businesses with superior coatings technologies that can be applied in a broad range of niche end markets. Through strategic partnerships with market-leading businesses, Valentus seeks to build a specialty coatings company with a wide range of technological capabilities and a broad geographic reach. Valentus is focused on serving customers that are not targeted or effectively serviced by the industry’s largest players. For more information, please visit: www.valentuschem.com.
Certain information herein may contain forward-looking statements which are provided to assist the reader in understanding the beliefs and opinions with respect to future opportunities as perceived by Huron Capital and others quoted herein. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance in future periods to differ materially from any projections or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The issuer of these statements undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or estimates or opinions should change except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
