Private equity firm swings into rotomolding with Atlas acquisition

Lancaster, Pa.-based private equity firm PennSpring Capital LLC has acquired playground equipment maker Swing Kingdom and rotational molder Atlas Molding LLC, both based in nearby Leola, and both founded by Amish businessman Amos Glick.

Terms were not disclosed for the deal, announced May 22.

Lou Castelli, managing partner of PennSpring Capital, said Glick will remain president and still owns a "meaningful minority stake in both companies."

Atlas Molding rotomolds components for Swing Kingdom and other regional playground manufacturers, said Brian Horst, chief operating officer at Atlas.

"Swing Kingdom's 50 percent of our business, but we have manufacturers all over the country," Horst said. The playground company, which employs from 30 to 50 people, depending on the season, serves the commercial and residential markets.

At Atlas Molding, 22 employees run three rotomolding machines — two rock-and-roll machines and a three-arm carousel machine with a 13-foot swing, Horst said.

Playground slides are a specialty.

"We have some very nice 14-foot slides," Horst said, adding that the big slides, as well as kayaks, are molded on the rock-and-roll machines.

Atlas molds a dozen different tube slides, with names like Avalanche Slide, Tunnel Express Slide, Sidewinder Slide and a corkscrew model called the Turbo Twister.

The rotomolder also does PVC coating of chains used on swings, a safety feature.

Atlas Molding added in-house pulverizing and color mixing three years ago.

PennSpring Capital is a lower-middle market private equity firm that focuses on companies with strong foundations and proven leadership, in industries with a high rate of fragmentation.

Castelli said Swing Kingdom and Atlas Molding are PennSpring Capital's first manufacturing holdings. The private equity firm has focused on companies involved in education and business systems and software, and youth sports. The firm has made eight investments in the last 10 months, including five majority investments.

Its website says PennSpring aims to invest in companies "that are not quite ready for institutional capital." Officials of the private equity company wants to have the company owner hold a meaningful ownership stake, from 20-45 percent, and work with existing management.

Castelli said PennSpring Capital will help Swing Kingdom expand into institutional customers like state and local governments and schools, and youth sports.

Swing Kingdom and Atlas Molding have a colorful history, spelled out on both companies' websites. Amos Glick, who was raised on a farm with 13 brothers and sisters, attended school through ninth grade. In 1994, he started building storage barns, a major business for Amish craftsmen skilled at building trades.

Glick was not available for this article, but the written history tells the story: "Once, while traveling, he was listening to a radio program about the dangers of arsenic used in the manufacturing of wooden playground equipment. This was his inspiration to make a difference, and the idea for Swing Kingdom was born!"

He founded Swing Kingdom in 2000. The company initially bought rotomolded slides and other parts from outside molders. Horst said he was the first employee hired by Glick when he was creating Atlas Molding.

"I managed another swingset company. I talked to Amos about building slides, 12, 13 years ago," Horst said. "Seems like he hung onto that. He ended up buying my company."

Glick founded Atlas Molding in 2009, in a 20,000-square-foot plant on Main Street in Leola, a small town heavily populated by Amish and Mennonites. Four years later, the company added kayaks to its main product line of slides and other playground products.

In 2015, Atlas moved a short way down Main Street and into a 95,000-square-foot building for manufacturing and warehouse space. It bought a second rock-and-roll machine. The following year, the company added the pulverizer and colorant operation. Horst said the carousel machine was added last year.

Castelli called Glick "a model of discipline, diligence and innovation."

Glick said in the announcement that PennSpring's investment and financial expertise have positioned management to grow both companies.

Castelli noted that rotomolding can make a wide range of products, and he said: "We are exploring new applications for Atlas Molding; with its technology and the Lancaster work ethic, we believe the company is primed to expand into additional verticals."