Brightstar Capital Partners in New York, a private equity firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams, has acquired a majority interest in Material Handling Group USA in Canton Township. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Material Handling Group, or MHG, provides new, used, and rental material handling equipment and aftermarket parts and service across Michigan, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic region through its Fraza, Vitan Equipment, Matthai Material Handling, and Buffalo Lift Trucks brands.
As part of the acquisition, Roger Runyan will continue to lead MHG as CEO, and he and his management team will retain a meaningful ownership stake.
Brightstar will partner with industry veteran Jonathan Dawley, former president and CEO of KION North America, to serve as executive chair of MHG. He has more than two decades of experience across the material handling equipment industry to support MHG.
Material Handling Group began as a single-location forklift repair shop in Detroit in 1938, and aftermarket services have remained the foundation of the business ever since.
Runyan acquired the business in 2017 after more than 20 years working at the company and grew it into today’s integrated platform. Each of the company’s brands is anchored by a recurring aftermarket business, spanning service, parts, and rental for warehousing, logistics, and manufacturing operations.
“We’ve spent years building MHG into a business our customers and employees can count on, and this partnership gives us the resources to take it to the next level,” says Runyan. “Brightstar brings real experience with technician-led, service-based businesses like ours, and I’m excited to put that expertise and their resources to work to accelerate our growth.”
The investment reflects Brightstar’s continued deployment of its dedicated lower middle market strategy, which focuses on partnering with founder-, family-, and entrepreneur-led businesses to support long-term growth.
“MHG is the kind of owner-led, service-driven business our lower middle market strategy was designed to partner with,” says Charles Yoon, a partner at Brightstar and managing partner of the firm’s lower middle market strategy.
“Distribution buildout, reshoring, and the shift toward automated warehouses are expanding the equipment base that needs skilled service, and MHG’s technician-led model is suited for that. We believe the company is well positioned for continued growth, both organically and through selective M&A.”
For more information visit frazagroup.com.
