Sentinel Capital Partners Acquires Holley Performance Products

The same private equity that owns Driven Performance Brands has acquired Holley Performance Products from Lincolnshire Management Inc. Sentinel Capital Partners announced its deal to purchase Holley on Wednesday afternoon. The firm said it invests in promising companies in the lower midmarket.

Sentinel will combine Holley with Driven Performance Brands, a platform acquired by Sentinel in 2015. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Holley is a strong, consumer-focused company with a portfolio of powerful brands and a meaningful edge in engineering and technology,” said Jim Coady, a partner at Sentinel. “Holley operates in the large, highly-fragmented, and steadily growing automotive enthusiast market. Led by a deeply-involved and experienced management team, Holley has a proven ability to integrate add-on businesses successfully and leads the industry when it comes to product innovation.

“We believe that Holley and Driven are extremely complementary in terms of culture, brands, and capabilities. Combining Holley and Driven creates the largest and most diversified business in the industry.”

Holley’s portfolio includes brands such as Sniper EFI, MSD, Accel, Diablosport, Superchips, Edge, and Hooker Blackheart, each with its own identity that allows the company to target specific consumers across the late-model, classic, truck and jeep, and racing vehicle sub-segments.

Headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Holley has been in operation for 115 years.

Driven Performance Brands-based in Santa Rosa, California-includes Flowmaster, B&M, Hurst, APR, and Dinan. Its brands date back more than 65 years.

“Uniting Holley and Driven expands our product offering and market-leading portfolio, deepens our connection to our enthusiast base, and, importantly, brings together two highly talented management teams,” said Tom Tomlinson, president and CEO of Holley.

“As one business, Holley and Driven will be a powerhouse at the center of a fragmented industry with highly favorable market dynamics,” said Driven CEO Brian Appelgate. “We share with Holley many similarities in how we interact with and earn the loyalty of our passionate customers. In addition, our brand portfolios are highly complementary and the combined business will be highly adept at identifying, acquiring, and investing in new brands.”

Sentinel Capital Partners specializes in buying and building businesses in the lower midmarket in the U.S. and Canada-in partnership with management. Sentinel targets aerospace and defense, business services, consumer, distribution, food and restaurants, franchising, healthcare, and industrial businesses. Sentinel invests in management buyouts, recapitalizations, corporate divestitures, and going-private transactions of established businesses with EBITDA of up to $65 million. Sentinel also invests in special situations, including balance sheet restructurings and operational turnarounds.