Prairie Represents Bettcher Industries, Inc. in its Sale to Morgenthaler Private Equity

OAK BROOK, Ill. - Oct. 12, 2017 - PRLog -- Prairie Capital Advisors, Inc. ("Prairie"), a leading middle market investment bank, is pleased to announce that it has represented Bettcher Industries, Inc. ("Bettcher Industries" or the "Company"), and its shareholders in the sale of the Company to Morgenthaler Private Equity ("MPE Partners"). The Company's existing ESOP will retain a meaningful minority ownership stake. The transaction was announced on October 4, 2017. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Ohio and founded in 1944, Bettcher Industries designs, manufacturers and services high precision cutting tools for the meat processing and medical markets. Serving customers in more than 70 countries, Bettcher has global sales offices in Europe, China, and Brazil and primarily serves the protein processing and foodservice industries. Through the Company's Gainco, Inc. subsidiary, the Company manufactures equipment and systems for sizing, weighing, and sorting foods products in processing plants. In 2011, Bettcher Industries formed its Exsurco Medical subsidiary, successfully developing and commercializing advanced devises used for excision and debridement in tissue banking and surgical procedures.

"The Prairie team provided excellent guidance in what was a challenging and complex transaction," commented Don Esch, President and CEO of Bettcher Industries. "Prairie has a unique blend of M&A, ESOP and capital markets capabilities and I can recount numerous examples where Prairie stepped forward to the challenges of the deal while demonstrating the utmost in professionalism. We could not have been more pleased with any other advisor for this deal."

"We believe that the Bettcher-MPE partnership positions the Company well for accelerated future growth including strategic add-on acquisitions," said Timothy Witt, Managing Director at Prairie. "We continue to see strong interest by the private equity community to acquire and/or invest in market leading ESOP-owned companies. Private equity buyers are becoming more and more familiar with the peculiarities of acquiring ESOP companies and are surrounding themselves with the right advisors to avoid common pitfalls," added Anthony Dolan, Director at Prairie.

Prairie Capital Advisors acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Bettcher Industries, working closely with its shareholders and management team throughout the sale process. Prairie's deal team was integrally involved in each step of the process and guided the Company and the management team to a successful transaction outcome.

About Prairie Capital Advisors
Prairie provides investment banking, ESOP advisory, and valuation advisory services to support the growth and ownership transition strategies of middle-market companies. Headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, Prairie specializes in merger and acquisition advisory services and is a nationally recognized advisor for ESOP transaction strategies. Prairie is also ranked as a Top 5 Advisor for Fairness Opinions in the U.S. based on number of deals per Thomson Reuters. For more information visit www.prairiecap.com.