Gridiron Capital tops $100 mln for third buyout fund

The firm, which acquires U.S. and Canadian companies operating in manufacturing, services and specialty consumer markets, disclosed six investors in the fund and a date of first sale of April 6 for Gridiron Capital Fund III, according to the Form D filed with the SEC.

Thomas Burger Jr and Eugene Conese Jr are both managing partners and co-founders of Connecticut-based Gridiron Capital. Burger previously was a managing director and general partner of RFE Investment Partners and managing director of Butler Capital Corp, where he acquired and built companies in the manufacturing, services and specialty consumer markets.

Among his past roles, Conese was a president and chief operating officer at Greenwich Air Services, which made several acquisitions, went public and was sold to General Electric for $1.5 billion in 1997.

Meanwhile, Timothy Clark, managing director, worked as managing director of the consumer group for investment bank Stifel Nicolaus and played baseball in the Cincinnati Reds organization, among other roles.

Gridiron Capital closed its most recent fund, Gridiron Capital Fund II LP, with $425 million in commitments in 2012. The target on the fund was $400 million. In 2007, the firm raised a debut fund of $300 million.

In one of its most recent deals, Gridiron Capital said April 14 it made an investment in St. Louis-based Dent Wizard International, a provider of automotive dent repair services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The firm also sold Yellowstone Landscape Group Inc, a landscaping company in Texas, to CIVC Partners LP in a deal that closed in January.

All told, Gridiron Capital lists 12 current investments and five prior investments on its website, along with eight investments made by the partners prior founding of the firm. A spokeswoman for the firm did not return a phone call or email.