Blackford Capital in Grand Rapids, a lower middle-market private equity firm, has acquired California-based LTD Online Stores Inc., a patio furniture e-commerce business and wholesale distributor. Financial details were not released.
LTD markets and sells middle-to-high-end furniture through wholesale/drop-shipping, and is the third addition to Blackford’s Patio Portfolio in the past year. It joins Artificial Turf Supply (ATS) and Starfire Direct.
“Expanding our patio offerings to include high-end patio furniture has been a critical target since the platform’s inception in 2022,” says Paul Doyle, managing director at Blackford Capital and chairman of the Patio Portfolio.
“LTD has maintained an impressive growth trajectory before, during and beyond COVID-19 due, in large part, to their high-quality furniture, sales channels and diverse customer base. We’re excited to welcome LTD to the Patio Platform and look forward to expanding our highly diversified product mix across a proven omni-channel distribution network.”
Ben Harvey, president of wholesale and retail for LTD, and Todd Harmon, online president for LTD, both were influential in launching LTD as a small e-commerce website and marketer of home furniture, company officials state.
They will maintain their roles following the acquisition. In 2008, LTD began designing, manufacturing, and selling its own products, before opening a retail showroom in 2017.
Today, LTD serves a wide-ranging customer base through three distinct channels: e-commerce, retail showrooms, and its wholesale segment. LTD’s channel and customer diversification includes sales through various large e-commerce retailers.
“This acquisition furthers our goal of consolidating our suite of portfolio companies dedicated to ‘curating the backyard’ and sets us up to accelerate growth and gain market share within the growing backyard consumer segment,” says Doyle.
Website Closers in Florida served as exclusive financial advisor and Aegis Law in Troy served as legal advisor to LTD. Varnum in Novi served as legal advisor and Rehmann in Troy served as the financial and tax advisor to Blackford. Mercantile Bank of Michigan provided debt in support of the transaction.
