Questor Partners Fund II LP has acquired Polar Corp, St Cloud MN, a privately-held manufacturer and service provider for tank trailers, as well as a manufacturer and distributor of light-duty trailer parts.
Questor also announced that Al Koch, a principal of AlixPartners LLC and a Questor general partner, has been appointed chief executive officer of Polar, replacing James Jungels, who is retiring after 27 years at the company.
"Jim Jungels and the management team have worked hard to build the company and we intend to continue this record of growth and improvement,” said Koch.
Polar Corp operates three business divisions: Quality Trailer Products, Polar Tank Trailer, and Polar Service Centers. In addition, Polar Corp operates a total of 35 facilities, has approximately 1,100 employees, and has current annual revenues of approximately $230 million.
“Polar is a market leader in an industry poised for growth,” said Garrett P Kanehann, Questor vice-president. “While we find Polar’s growth prospects attractive, we are even more excited about the profit-improvement opportunities we see at the company. This deal combines Polar’s strong management, powerful brand equity, and excellent customer relationships with Questor’s capital resources and proven profit-improvement capabilities--partnership that will make Polar an even stronger competitor in the marketplace.”
Questor Management Company LLC, with offices in Southfield MI and New York City, manages the Questor Partners Funds, which have more than $1.1 billion of committed equity capital. Since it was founded in 1995, the company has successfully completed more than 20 acquisitions worldwide, including the purchase of GeoLogistics, one of the world’s largest global freight forwarding and logistics services providers; PinnOak Resources, a leading producer of metallurgical coal, which the fund purchased from US Steel; and Chef Solutions, a nationwide manufacturer of prepared foods, purchased from Lufthansa.