Facilisgroup (PPAI 493664) has been acquired by Elysian Capital LLC, a private equity firm based in London, UK. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, with offices in Ottawa, Ontario, the business services and technology company will continue to operate as Facilisgroup under the strategic leadership of Dan Rochette, founder; Martin Weber, chief business development officer; and Chuck Fandos, CEO. The financial details of the acquisition, which was first announced Wednesday in a PPB Newslink Breaking News alert, were not disclosed.
Facilisgroup describes the acquisition as an important step in its growth and evolution that will enable the company to ramp up its enterprise-scale growth plans, allowing its distributor partners to benefit from accelerated investment and service enhancements.
In a news release, Fandos said, “Over the past year, we have built a firm relationship with Elysian as an investor in Brand Addition. Elysian shares our vision for Facilisgroup and mirrors our mission to help our partners be ever more competitive and successful.” Brand Addition acquired Fandos’s distributor company GatewayCDI in 2016.
Speaking to PPB Newslink, Fandos says, “The Facilisgroup business model does not change with this transaction. We will continue to focus on our community, technology and supply chain relationships. We will continue to add like-minded distributors at a slow pace and continue to work closely with our supplier partners to achieve the win-win relationship that has always been there. What will change will be the investment of capital and infusion of new ideas provided by Elysian Capital that will accelerate improvements in our technology and services. We want to be more creative and move more quickly in today’s fast-changing business environment.”
Elysian has also announced the formation of the Pebble Group, which will focus on the promotional sector. While retaining their separate brands, growth strategies and management teams, Facilisgroup and Brand Addition will both become a part of this new entity. The company sees several exciting opportunities for Facilisgroup and its partners under common ownership with Brand Addition given the group’s combined business spend, enhanced geographic presence and continued investment in technology.
“Brand Addition is an existing Facilis partner and we will look to collaborate with them just as we do all Facilis partners,” says Fandos. “The real benefit as I see it is Brand Addition could partner with other Facilis partners on international programs. bringing their expertise and geographic capabilities to bear in Europe and Asia, as Brand Addition is the largest distributor in Europe.”
Speaking on the Pebble Group’s future in the promotional products market, Fandos adds, “There are no firm plans at this point, but the promotional products sector is doing well currently for many private equity firms. Consistent margins, strong relationships and growing sales are attractive to investors, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see The Pebble Group look to expand in other areas in the future.”
