Norwest Equity Partners divests textile distributor Momentum Group

Norwest Equity Partners, the Minneapolis middle-market investment firm, divested a portfolio company, Momentum Group, the Irvine, California, distributor of textiles for office, hospitality, healthcare and university uses. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Press Release

Minneapolis, Minnesota – Norwest Equity Partners (“NEP”), a leading middle market investment firm, has announced the divestiture of its portfolio company, Momentum Group (“Momentum” or the “Company”), a leading value‐added distributor that provides exclusive, design‐focused, sustainable textiles into diversified office, hospitality, healthcare and university end markets. Financial terms were not disclosed for the transaction which closed on April 1, 2016.

Momentum is driven by a culture of continuous improvement that has led to multiple competitive advantages for the Company over the years. Focused on selling products to two types of customers, architecture and design firms and commercial furniture manufacturers, Momentum has built a proven reputation for bringing the most innovative and sustainable products to the market. The Company’s award‐winning, in‐house design team brings advanced technical expertise and broad product development capabilities, both of which help create Momentum’s 100% proprietary products.

NEP invested in Momentum in 2011 and has worked closely together with Roger Arciniega, Momentum CEO, and the management team to more than double EBITDA organically and significantly grow revenue. Over the course of NEP’s investment period, Momentum strategically focused on innovative product development and operational excellence, sales process and tracking enhancements, and expanded marketing efforts.

Arciniega shared, “NEP has been a true partner to the Momentum team, providing an insightful balance of challenge, support and latitude enabling us to consistently outperform expectations. Long‐term mutually beneficial relations are at the core of NEP success, and there is no question that NEP is one of the very best at what they do.”

Timothy Kuehl, NEP Partner and Momentum board member, stated, “Momentum was a great fit for our firm’s distribution investment strategy, and it has been a rewarding experience to work in partnership with Roger and his team. Momentum has a highly‐successful organic growth‐oriented business model that stems from providing innovative sustainable products from a global supply base to a diverse set of customers in a variety of end markets. A solid track record of outperforming the market year after year positions Momentum to continue on the same growth trajectory for the future.”

“Momentum has performed exceptionally well for many years and has developed a truly unique and differentiated business model driven by continuous improvement and enabled by technology. The Company has developed best‐in‐class capabilities and global sourcing relationships that will allow for continued growth and expansion into adjacent markets,” stated Andrew Cantwell, NEP Principal and Momentum board member.

NEP has been building growing, profitable, and scalable middle market companies since 1961 and has deep experience working with industry‐leading distribution companies, including Bix Produce, Stanton Carpet Corporation, Lindstrom Metric, and Imperial Supplies. More information on NEP and its investment strategy, portfolio and history can be found on www.nep.com.

Momentum is headquartered in Irvine, California and employs 150 people. For more information, please visit themomgroup.com.

BlackArch Partners served as financial advisor on the sale transaction to The Riverside Company, and Faegre Baker Daniels served as legal advisor.