Harris Williams Advises Vantage Elevator Solutions on its Pending Majority Sale to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board

Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it is serving as lead financial advisor to Vantage Elevator Solutions (Vantage), a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital, on its pending majority sale to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’). As part of the transaction, Vantage’s current owner, Golden Gate Capital, will retain a significant minority ownership stake in the company. Vantage is a leading North American elevator component manufacturer, providing a broad portfolio of parts and components used in elevator systems, including door operators, traction machines, and controllers, among others. The transaction is being led by Tim Webb, Eric Logue, Patrick McNulty, Ty Denoncourt, Chuck Walter and Matt Crisafi of the Harris Williams Industrials Group.

“We are very excited to be working with the Vantage team and Golden Gate Capital,” said Tim Webb, a managing director at Harris Williams. “Ron Cauchi, CEO of Vantage, and the rest of his team, in partnership with Golden Gate Capital, have built a premier industrial platform. We look forward to following their continued success.”

“Ontario Teachers’ is a great partner for Vantage and Golden Gate Capital,” said Eric Logue, a managing director at Harris Williams. “The stability of the platform, coupled with attractive growth opportunities and a great management team, create a very unique opportunity in today’s market.”

“This transaction represents another marquee deal for the Harris Williams Industrials Group,” said Patrick McNulty, a managing director at Harris Williams. “We continue to work with world class platforms, helping identify new partners for the next stage of growth.”

Vantage is one of North America’s leading independent manufacturers of elevator components and systems for new equipment applications, equipment upgrade projects and service replacement parts. Vantage is comprised of seven business units including GAL Manufacturing Company and GAL Canada; Hollister-Whitney Elevator Corporation; Elevator Controls Corporation; Courion; Bore-Max; and Thames Valley Controls. Through its brands, Vantage supplies almost all electro-mechanical devices used in contemporary elevators. Vantage sells its products to a diverse range of customer types including hundreds of independent elevator contractors, in addition to several well-known multi-national elevator companies. Founded in 1927, the Vantage group employs approximately 1,000 staff in multiple locations across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with over $19 billion in cumulative committed capital. The principals of Golden Gate Capital have a long and successful history of investing across a wide range of industries and transaction types, including going-privates, corporate divestitures, and recapitalizations, as well as debt and public equity investments. Notable investments sponsored by Golden Gate Capital include Active Minerals, ANGUS, Antylia Scientific and Covia.

Ontario Teachers' is the administrator of Canada's largest single-profession pension plan, with C$227.7 billion ($180.7 billion) in net assets (all figures of June 30, 2021 unless noted). It holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, approximately 80% of which is managed in-house, and has earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.6% since the plan's founding in 1990. Ontario Teachers' is an independent organization headquartered in Toronto. Its Asia-Pacific region offices are located in Hong Kong and Singapore, and its Europe, Middle East and Africa region office is in London. The defined-benefit plan, which is fully funded as of January 1, 2021, invests and administers the pensions of the province of Ontario's 331,000 active and retired teachers.

Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

The Harris Williams Industrials Group has experience across a variety of sectors, including advanced manufacturing; building products; chemicals and specialty materials; industrial technology; and packaging. For more information on the firm’s Industrials Group and other recent transactions, visit the Industrials Group’s section of the Harris Williams website.

Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschäftsführer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business.