Private equity firm buys Slingmax and I&I Sling

I&I Sling, located in Aston, Pennsylvania, is a manufacturer of custom lifting slings and a supplier of rigging hardware and hoists. It also provides testing, engineering, repair and inspection services at its six locations servicing the East Coast. 

Slingmax supplies synthetic slings and multi-part wire rope slings. The organisation consists of 37 independent companies in 12 countries, each licensed, trained and certified to manufacture, repair and test Slingmax products.

Each company will continue to operate autonomously.

The acquisition follows River’s purchase in 2020 of Yale Cordage, a designer and manufacturer of synthetic rope and rope systems based in Saco, Maine, with an additional manufacturing facility in North Carolina.

Scott St. Germain will continue to serve as CEO of I&I/Slingmax and the business will remain operating in its current headquarters in Aston. 

“We are determined to provide the same level of commitment to our valued customers as we have for more than 58 years,” said St. Germain.

He continued: “This new venture strengthens our engineering efforts to accelerate new product development and improve upon our current line of exclusive rigging solutions, which have enhanced customer safety and improved job site efficiencies for decades across the globe. 

“Joining forces with Yale expands our breadth of synthetic rope and roundsling products and capabilities. 

“Now with the synergy of Yale Cordage working alongside us, there’s no limit to what our combined companies can accomplish together. We are very excited!”

Yale Cordage will continue serving its customers with no changes.

Nino M. Granatiero, Yale Cordage CEO, said: “Yale Cordage is in a growth phase, with a host of new opportunities and a new direction, making this an exciting time as we approach our 75th year.

“Together with I&I Sling and Slingmax we now have over 230 dedicated team members focused on providing a high level of customer delivery performance with industry-leading quality.”

River Associates and the management teams at Yale Cordage and I&I/Slingmax continue to seek complementary strategic acquisition partners for the company.

River Associates targets US and Canadian companies typically with EBITDA in the $3m to $15m range. Since its founding in 1989, River Associates has initiated more than 100 transactions, many of which have been strategic add-on acquisitions to platform companies.

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