Livingstone advises Lesman Instrument Company on sale to Kele
Livingstone is pleased to announce the sale of Lesman Instrument Company (“Lesman” or the “Company”) to Kele, Inc. (“Kele”), a portfolio company of The Stephens Group, LLC. Livingstone acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the Company. The transaction closed in December 2020, and its terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 1962 and based in Bensenville, Illinois, Lesman is a specialty distributor of products used to measure, analyze, control, and automate a wide range of industrial processes which was majority-owned by the Lesman Instrument Company Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”). Products include various temperature, pressure, level, and flow instruments manufactured by industry-leading OEMs.
Based in Memphis, Tennessee, and founded in 1983, Kele is the leading distributor of building automation peripherals and controls solutions. Kele provides its customers access to over 125,000 SKUs in 24 product categories from over 300 leading suppliers, including manufacturers of various sensors, flow meters, transmitters, switches, gauges, valves, actuators, relays, controllers, enclosures, tools, lighting, power supplies and numerous other products critical to the proper functioning of commercial building automation systems (e.g., HVAC and lighting).
Lesman engaged Livingstone to run a sale process to identify and secure a transaction with the best strategic partner that shared the Company’s commitment to delivering value to its suppliers and customers.
Mike DeLacluyse, President and CEO of Lesman, commented, “We are thrilled to have found a world-class partner in Kele to carry on Lesman’s legacy. I couldn’t be more pleased with the first-class representation we received from the Livingstone team. When we began the process of deciding to pursue a transaction, we considered whether or not to hire an advisor. We absolutely made the right choice to hire Livingstone. They crafted a tailored transaction process and managed it every step of the way, yielding an outstanding result for the shareholders.”
Andrew Isgrig, Partner at Livingstone, commented, “The Company differentiates itself in the distribution market for test, measurement, and controls products by offering a broad portfolio of high-quality products from blue-chip OEMs, via a highly technical, experienced sales and service team supported by advanced analytical capabilities. It was a pleasure representing Lesman on this transaction, and we are excited for their future with Kele.”
Andrew Bozzelli, Partner at Livingstone, added, “The Lesman transaction represents another successful outcome for a value-added distributor client, including a second highly successful sale of an ESOP-owned distributor following the sale of Apache to Motion Industries. Our understanding of the product set and dynamics to drive value, enabled us to run a highly competitive process, and close a transaction within 120 days of engagement.”
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC served as legal counsel to the Company. Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. represented the trustee of the ESOP. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP served as legal counsel to Kele.
