November 12, 2020

New York, NY – Copperweld Group, Inc. (“Copperweld”), a portfolio company of Kinderhook Industries, LLC (“Kinderhook”), announced today the acquisition of Copperhead Industries, LLC (“Copperhead” or the “Company”), a Monticello, MN based provider of specialty tracer wire products and related equipment. The Company represents the second add-on acquisition for Copperweld and Kinderhook’s 109th automotive/light manufacturing transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 2002 as a spin-off from industrial distribution company GROEBNER, Copperhead is a leading domestic distributor of copper clad steel (“CCS”) tracer wire and tracer wire accessories, serving a variety of public and private customers in the water, sewer, gas, and telecommunication markets. Copperhead offers a full line of the highest quality tracer wire products for the applications of open cut, directional drill and pipe bursting. Copperhead’s complete tracer wire system also includes accessories such as connectors, test stations and anodes, as well as the ViperMag locator and metal detector.

The acquisition of Copperhead strengthens Copperweld’s value-added wire extrusion capabilities, while also adding the leading brand in the tracer wire market. Copperweld will leverage Copperhead’s differentiated sales and marketing team to further penetrate attractive new end markets and promote the conversion to bimetallic wire products. Copperhead contributes meaningful opportunities in tracer wire markets, including infrastructure buildouts in telecom.

“We are excited to bring Jeff Atwood and the distinguished Copperhead team aboard our expanding Copperweld platform,” said Craig York, Chief Executive Officer of Copperweld. “Growth in tracer wire has been a strategic priority for Copperweld, and this business combination will help us drive increased adoption of bimetallic wire products in several end markets and applications.”

Paul Cifelli, Managing Director at Kinderhook, stated, “Copperhead is a proven industry leader with a history of exceptional growth which will only be accelerated as a member of the Copperweld family. We look forward to the many opportunities the Copperhead platform will provide in the high growth tracer wire market, especially those just starting to emerge as a result of the national 5G network infrastructure rollout.”

Nate Druckenmiller, Vice President at Kinderhook, added, “Copperhead is a natural fit with Copperweld and further illustrates our strategy of providing a fully-integrated bimetallic wire solution to our customers. The acquisition is expected to be highly synergistic and we are excited to leverage the strengths of both businesses.”

Monroe Moxness Berg PA served as legal counsel to Copperweld. Financing for the transaction was provided by Twin Brook Capital Partners.

For additional information about this transaction, please contact: 
Paul Cifelli
Managing Director
(212) 201-6797
[email protected]
 
Nate Druckenmiller
Vice President
(212) 201-6791
[email protected]