News
PNC Equity Partners, L.P. Acquires The Faucet Queens, Inc. from Masco Corporation
Pittsburgh, PA (April 25, 2006) – PNC Equity Partners, L.P. (PNC Equity), the private equity affiliate of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. announced today the acquisition of The Faucet Queens, Inc. (“Faucet Queen”) from Masco Corporation. Headquartered in Vernon Hills, IL, Faucet Queen is the leading innovator and marketer of convenience-oriented home hardware products to the food and drug retail channel.
Faucet Queen serves as the outsourced supply chain management partner for customers in a niche merchandise category and provides the broadest line of home hardware products in the industry, with 14 product lines and over 650 SKUs, including hand tools, kitchen and bath items, twine, padlocks, paint supplies, automotive items, and sewing related items. The Company sells its products into 14 of the top 25 grocery chains and all of the major drug chains throughout the United States and Canada.
“We are very pleased to partner with PNC Equity. This transaction represents the first institutional equity investment in the Company and marks the beginning of a new chapter of growth and opportunity in our long history. We look forward to working together with our friends at PNC Equity,” commented Bill Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Faucet Queen.
PNC Equity will be represented on the Company’s board by Wali Bacdayan, Jonathan Lewis, and Jack Glover. Faucet Queen’s management and Citizens Ventures, Inc. also invested in the transaction, and the senior debt financing was provided by CapitalSource.
Founded in 1982, PNC Equity Partners, L.P. is the private equity affiliate of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. PNC Equity focuses on making equity investments in middle market companies that have enterprise values between $25 million and $125 million. Our equity investments are typically in support of change of control leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, corporate divestitures, and large minority financings. PNC Equity targets companies that operate in the niche manufacturing, value-added distribution and outsourced services industries.
