Private equity group buys Adams Manufacturing

London private equity firm BC Partners has purchased Adams Manufacturing Corp., the largest U.S. manufacturer of outdoor resin furniture, in a deal announced Aug. 17 that will link it with another major consumer products maker.

BC Partners bought Adams Manufacturing from its founder, Bill Adams, and his family. Terms were not disclosed.

Adams CEO Tom Lombardo and the management team will remain with the maker of injection molded resin furniture, where they will continue to drive development of the company, BC Partners said.

Adams Manufacturing, based in Portersville, Pa., ​ is a tiny hamlet off Interstate 79 between Butler and New Castle, Pa. The company employs about 250. Adams Manufacturing officials were not available for comment, but a 2014 story in Plastics News said the company then had 30 injection molding machines, 11 of which have clamping forces of 1,500 tons and larger. That included a 2,600-ton Milacron press molding chaise lounges. Sales were around $50 million at that time.

Adams will have common owners with another consumer products giant.

In 2016, BC Partners joined with a Canadian investment pension fund to buy Israeli housewares and consumer products molder Keter Group. Keter, which also makes a line of resin furniture, invested $36 million to open an injection molding plant in Belen, New Mexico, in 2017.

There are no plans to combine Adams Manufacturing and Keter in the near term, BC Partners said in a news release.

Adams' shareholders will reinvest a portion of the transaction proceeds into a stake in Keter, according to BC Partners.

In a statement, Bill Adams said, "We are grateful for what our wonderful associates have accomplished at Adams over the last 40 years. Partnering with Keter is a unique opportunity for Adams to accelerate its development. Today marks the beginning of a new era in the history of Adams and we are very excited about the prospects for both companies going forward."

Bill Adams was not available for additional comment.

Adams furniture is sold nationwide, stacked high at retail outlets. Adams Manufacturing has a colorful history. After Bill Adams returned from Vietnam, he became a librarian at a Pittsburgh elementary school. His grandfather died and left him $10,000. He left teaching and used part of the inheritance to get a mold built to make suction cups, linking up with a custom molder. He peddled the suction cups to gas stations and hardware stores out of his 1976 Chevette.

Adams got into the injection molding business himself in the mid-1980s to control the quality of the suction cups — a product the company still manufactures today.

The fledging molder left Pittsburgh and moved to a garage in Portersville. The big move into resin furniture came around 2006, when Adams bought molds from Bemis Manufacturing Co., which had exited the furniture segment.

As several other makers of resin furniture also got out of the business, Adams also bought molds from those former competitors.

Over the years, Adams Manufacturing has made several big innovations in the ultracompetitive resin furniture arena. A stackable, injection molded Big Easy Rocking Chair won the Best New Product award at the 2015 National Hardware Show. Adams' Adirondack chairs have a molded-in lumbar support. A barstool has a contoured seat for comfort, instead of the standard flat seat.

Keter CEO Alejandro Pena said the two companies are major consumer products manufacturers.

"This strategic partnership is a testament to Keter's focus on the expanding North American market and will provide long-standing customers of Adams Manufacturing with a wider variety of product lines," he said in a prepared statement.

BC Partners is building an outdoor furniture powerhouse, said Jean-Baptiste Wautier, a managing partner at the private equity firm.

"This acquisition of Adams is of strategic nature and another milestone in the history of the company," he said in the news release. "This is a commitment to invest and grow the garden furniture category for the benefit of our clients. While both entities will operate independently in the short to medium term, we would expect to leverage our respective strengths, intensify product innovation and enhance our relationships with the most reputable retailers in North America."

Chicago-based Mesirow Financial was the exclusive adviser to Adams Manufacturing on the transaction.

BC Partners has more than 17 billion euros ($ 19.5 billion) of assets under management in private equity and private credit.

A spokesman said BC Partners could make more plastics industry deals.

"The company will continue to look for value creative acquisitions in North America, in Europe and elsewhere," he said.