{"id":13060,"date":"2025-04-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingstagenew.wpenginepowered.com\/transaction\/livingstone-cuts-deal-for-leading-industrial-mro-distributor\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:38:14","slug":"livingstone-cuts-deal-for-leading-industrial-mro-distributor","status":"publish","type":"transaction","link":"https:\/\/livingstonepartners.com\/ko\/transaction\/livingstone-cuts-deal-for-leading-industrial-mro-distributor\/","title":{"rendered":"Livingstone Cuts Deal for Leading Industrial MRO Distributor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Livingstone\u2019s Industrial team has advised <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/americancuttingedge.com\/\"><strong>American Cutting Edge<\/strong><\/a><strong> and <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glknife.com\/\"><strong>Great Lakes Industrial Knife, Co.<\/strong><\/a><strong> (collectively, \u201cACE\u201d or the \u201cCompany\u201d) on its partnership with <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/pfingsten.com\/\"><strong>Pfingsten Partners, L.L.C.<\/strong><\/a><strong> (\u201cPfingsten\u201d). Livingstone acted as exclusive financial advisor to ACE. Transaction terms were not disclosed.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, with an additional facility in Akron, Ohio, ACE sells its products under the American Cutting Edge, Better Tools, and Great Lakes Industrial Knife brand names. In addition to distributing knives, blades, and razors, the Company also provides value-added services, including sharpening, etching, and inventory management. ACE sells to end users, distributors, and OEMs within the recycling, converting, flooring installation, plastic production, food &amp; packaging, tree care, and archery end markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cLivingstone ran a broad global auction process that generated substantial interest from a comprehensive set of potential investors. From beginning to the end, the Livingstone team\u2019s advice, process management, and analytical support yielded an exceptional outcome for our family. We are proud to have found the right partner in Pfingsten to build on the Company\u2019s long-standing history and uphold the Biehn family legacy,\u201d<\/em> said <strong>Chuck Biehn<\/strong>, <strong>Chairman of ACE.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pfingsten is an operationally focused private equity firm founded in 1989. From its headquarters in Chicago, the firm builds better businesses through operational improvements, professional management practices, global capabilities, and profitable business growth. Since completing its first investment in 1991, Pfingsten has raised six investment funds with total commitments of approximately $1.8 billion and has acquired 173 manufacturing, distribution, and business services companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ACE will continue to be led by <strong>Gregory Billhardt, the Company\u2019s President and CEO<\/strong>. <em>\u201cThe management team is excited about partnering with Pfingsten to accelerate growth while delivering the high level of service, deep industry expertise, and attention to our customers\u2019 needs that ACE is known for,\u201d <\/em>said <strong>Gregory<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cFounded over 60 years ago, ACE is the market-leading distributor of industrial knives, razors, and blades serving a broad range of end markets with precision, reliability, and availability,\u201d<\/em> commented <a href=\"https:\/\/livingstonepartners.com\/ko\/team-member\/andrew-isgrig\/\"><strong>Andrew Isgrig<\/strong><\/a>, <strong>Co-head of Industrials at Livingstone.<\/strong> <em>\u201cThis successful outcome demonstrates the appeal of high-margin, consumable products distributors with diverse end markets and substantial upside growth potential in existing and new markets,\u201d <\/em>he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cACE has built an impressive legacy in the industrial blade industry, and its new partnership with Pfingsten marks an exciting new chapter of expanded opportunity. We\u2019re proud to have helped the ACE team find a like-minded partner committed to supporting their long-term vision and growth,\u201d<\/em> stated <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/livingstonepartners.com\/ko\/team\/david-modiano\/\"><strong>David Modiano<\/strong><\/a><strong>, Director at Livingstone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This transaction is the latest in Livingstone\u2019s expanding resume of industrial distribution transactions. Other notable transactions include advising <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/livingstonepartners.com\/ko\/transactions\/ives-equipment-corporation-has-been-sold-to-motion-control-enterprises\/\"><strong>Ives Equipment Corporation<\/strong><\/a> in its sale to MCE (portfolio company of Frontenac), AC Controls sale to Kele, Inc. (portfolio company of The Stephens Group), <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/livingstonepartners.com\/ko\/transactions\/arcline-backed-dwyeromega-acquires-miljoco\/\"><strong>DwyerOmega<\/strong><\/a> (portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management) acquisition of Miljoco Corp. LLC, and the sale of <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/livingstonepartners.com\/ko\/transactions\/livingstone-gauges-the-market-and-leads-the-sale-of-engineered-specialty-products\/\"><strong>Engineered Specialty Products, Inc<\/strong><\/a>. (portfolio company of Tonka Bay Equity Partners) to Flow Control Group (portfolio company of KKR). Our relationships with leading global strategic and private equity acquirers, data-driven approach, and deal creativity are key differentiators enabling our industrial technology team to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Auman Mahan Furry acted as legal advisor and Plante &amp; Moran, PLLC provided transaction-related accounting services to ACE in connection with this transaction. Paul Hastings LLP acted as legal counsel for Pfingsten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advises American Cutting Edge on its Sale to Pfingsten Partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2319,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"client-type":[],"region":[],"sector":[],"service":[],"transaction-type":[],"class_list":["post-13060","transaction","type-transaction","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"team_members":[1635,1575],"date":"20250418","client_type":52,"type":[1134],"region":[1205],"services":[455],"sectors":[788,828],"related_transactions":[14719,14680,14601],"related_testimonials":[52571],"contacts":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Livingstone Cuts Deal for Leading Industrial MRO Distributor - Livingstone Partners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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