A Los Angeles-based private equity firm with a wide range of investments is reportedly getting into the film business.
Leonard Green & Partners LP is the winner in an auction for Charter NEX Films Inc. for $1.5 billion, according to a report from Reuters.
Leonard Green's portfolio includes diverse companies serving the dialysis, car wash, horse show and indoor cycling markets, for example. The company also owns some well-known retailers including BJ's Wholesale Club, Signet Jewelers, Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, and the Container Store. The company owns Lucky Brand jeans and J. Crew along with Authentic Brands Group, a company that markets Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and many other personalities.
It was just in February that Reuters also reported Pamplona Capital Management hired investment bankers to look for a buyer for the Milton, Wis.-based film maker.
Formed in 2012 through the combination of NEX Performance Films Inc. and Charter Films Inc., the company acquired blown and cast film maker Bloomer Holdings Inc. in 2015. That deal brought locations in Bloomer, Wis., and Delaware, Ohio, to the company.
Charter NEX has a total of six production facilities, including other sites in Superior, Wis., and Turners Falls, Mass. The company also has expanded its locations in Milton and Rhinelander, Wis., in recent years.
Pamplona, which is based in New York and London, acquired Charter NEX from fellow private equity firm Mason Wells of Milwaukee in 2015.