Emerging manager Px3 makes first acquisition with carve-out buyout

Min Ho
12 May 2023

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London-headquartered Px3 Partners has agreed to acquire the filtration division from US-based Celeros Flow Technology, marking the GPтs first acquisition from its debut fund, according to an announcement.

The sponsor is deploying equity via Px3 Partners Fund I, which is targeting a fund size of EUR 750m, according to Unquote Data. Aviditi Advisors acts as the GP's placement agent, according to the statement.

The strategy seeks to acquire majority or minority stakes in companies with an EBITDA of up to EUR 100m and that require an equity commitment of over EUR 50m, according to the same source.

Among the sectors that the strategy will target are business services, consumer and leisure, and industrials sectors that play alongside the GP's investment "Compete Smarter" thesis, which includes strong brands, customer centricity and supply chain efficiency, as well as "Planet First", which it defines as reducing environmental pollution and addressing energy transition, its announcement said.

Under Px3's ownership, the filtration unit is expected to further grow its key international markets, in particular North America, Middle East and APAC, the source said, adding that bolt-on acquisitions will play a role in its consolidation effort.

The GP was formed following a spin-out from private equity firm Rhône Group in London, as reported.

Px3 declined to comment.

Company
Headquartered in Ireland, the 300-people strong filtration unit provides consumable, mission critical industrial filtration systems across a range of end markets including oil and gas, water and marine industries. Its brands including Dollinger, Plenty, Airpel and Vokes.

People
Px3 – Petter Johnsson, Gianpiero Lenza, Sebastien Mazella Di Bosco (managing partners).

Advisors
Equity - Alvarez & Marsal (accounting, operational and tax); Aon (benefits, insurance and pension), Debevoise & Plimpton (tax structuring), KPMG (ESG), LEK (commercial due diligence), Marlborough Partners (debt), Nomura Securities International (financial due diligence); Weil, Gotshal & Manges (legal).