PRESS RELEASE
February 22, 2008 - Lakewood Capital is pleased to announce that it has acquired Eliason Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI, one of the leading manufacturers of high-impact traffic doors in the nation. Founded in 1952, Eliason provides premium quality traffic doors to leading players across a diverse group of industries including restaurants, retail, hospitals, grocery stores, government buildings, industrial facilities, airports and educational institutions. The broad range of applications has resulted in a product line ranging from heavy duty industrial doors to light-duty double action traffic doors, all of which can be custom designed to meet each customer’s specific and unique requirements. Eliason also produces a line of energy saving products including open case refrigerator covers and flexible doors for cooled environments. Lakewood’s partners in the transaction include existing management, Milestone Partners, Midwest Mezzanine Funds, and MFC Capital Funding.
Roger Knight, founding partner of Lakewood Capital, stated, “We are particularly excited about joining with such a strong group of middle market focused partners on Lakewood’s first portfolio company. The experience of these groups coupled with the strength and depth of Eliason’s management is a powerful combination to steer the Company through its next stages of development. Bringing together the best team and drawing on its collective insight and resources to drive a lower middle market company through its development into a strong, standalone platform is a cornerstone of the Lakewood model, and Eliason provides us with just such an opportunity.”
“Eliason’s name is synonymous with the traffic door industry. There is not a retail mall, shopping center, food court, airport or amusement park you can visit without seeing an Eliason door in action. We look forward to working with management to build on this solid base to serve an even wider audience as well as continuing to meet the needs of our existing customers, from Starbucks and CVS to the neighborhood grill and hardware store, with an increasing array of innovative products and services.”
John Steffen, President of Eliason Corporation, added, “Partnering with Lakewood and Milestone will provide our management and employees with the resources not only to meet our customers’ needs, but also to provide innovative solutions and products to enhance their businesses. We have always prided ourselves on the quality of our products and our commitment to our customers. Our expanded resources and support for investment from our partners provides us with unparalleled opportunities to grow with our customers.”