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Huron Capital Launches Sixteenth ExecFactor® Platform and Completes Initial Investment in Insurance Agency Market
Detroit, MI – August 20, 2018 – Leading lower-middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital announced today it has founded High Street Partners with industry executives Scott Wick and Randy Koch to pursue a buy-and-build strategy in the insurance agency market.
High Street Partners marked the platform launch with its acquisition of Michigan-based Peterson McGregor and Associates (PMA), a provider of commercial insurance, personal lines and employee benefits services. PMA was founded in Traverse City, Michigan in 2000 as an independent insurance agency focused on serving commercial customers across a wide range of industries and has expanded to offer personal lines of insurance.
Wick and Koch are partnering with Huron Capital to pursue a buy-and-build strategy in the insurance agency market and will seek to grow the platform through additional acquisitions. PMA leaders Steve McGregor, Dennis Muth, Donn Westman and Raquel Paulus will remain active in their current positions and as shareholders of the company.
“We believe that the expertise and collective networks of Huron Capital, Scott and Randy will serve as a catalyst in moving Peterson McGregor and Associates forward,” said Steve McGregor, co-founder of PMA. “Huron Capital and its operating partners have a long track record of growing companies through acquisition and we are excited to see where the company goes from here.”
“It is great to be partnering with Huron Capital alongside Randy on this exciting opportunity,” said Scott Wick, CEO and managing partner of High Street Partners. “Huron Capital provides great support for ExecFactor® initiatives and we look forward to working together to build a significant platform in the insurance agency industry.”
Prior to forming High Street Partners, Wick and Koch both served in numerous executive and advisory roles. Most recently, Wick was President of The Fedeli Group and Executive Vice President & Chief Sales Officer (Midwest Region) for Hub International Limited and Koch was President and Chief Executive Officer (Midwest East Region) for Hub International Limited.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Scott and Randy on High Street Partners. We believe they are exceptional business operators,” said Matt Hare, Partner at Huron Capital. “We believe Huron Capital’s executive-led buy-and-build investment model is well suited for this industry.”
While the acquisition of PMA marks the forty-sixth platform investment for Huron Capital, High Street is the sixteenth buy-and-build investment initiative that has resulted from Huron Capital’s proprietary ExecFactor® investment model. ExecFactor® is Huron Capital’s proprietary executive-led market entry program designed to create a viable investment thesis first by combining a CEO’s industry expertise with the firm’s extensive investment experience and committed capital to strategically search for, invest in and grow fundamentally-sound companies in markets of interest.
Since inception, Huron Capital has partnered with numerous CEOs and executive teams to pursue and fund buy-and-build strategies in targeted sectors. Other active ExecFactor® platforms include Albireo Energy, Brudner Polymer Corp., Pure Dental Brands, Ronnoco Coffee, Valentus Specialty Chemicals and Sciens Building Solutions.
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. Founded in 1999, 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 (Private Equity) and non-control (Flex 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.
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.
