Leading Provider of Highly Engineered Products and Solutions for Defense, Aerospace, and Mission-Critical Industrial Applications
Los Angeles – October 27, 2015 – Vance Street Capital LLC, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Secure Technology Company (“Secure” or the “Company”) to Benchmark Electronics, Inc., (“Benchmark”) for approximately $230 million in cash.
Secure, headquartered in Santa Ana, California, is a leading provider of customized high-performance electronics, sub-systems, and component solutions for mission-critical applications in highly regulated industrial, aerospace and defense markets.
Vance Street acquired a majority interest in Secure in October 2009. During this period of partnership, Vance Street and Secure expanded the Company’s product offerings, broadened its blue-chip customer base in both defense and non-defense end markets and further expanded the Company’s technology portfolio. Secure achieved significant growth in sales and profitability during Vance Street’s ownership period as management focused on both organic growth initiatives and executed three strategic acquisitions. The sale of Secure is the fourth from Vance Street Capital’s current fund.
“Following our acquisition of Secure in 2009, we took several steps to grow the business. These initiatives included the implementation of continuous improvement processes, the creation of an advanced technology division to capitalize on the company’s strong engineering capabilities, and the addition of new products, technologies and customers via strategic acquisitions,” said Richard R. Crowell, Managing Partner at Vance Street Capital. “Secure is an impressive organization and the success we have had in partnership with Allen Ronk and his management team has been gratifying.”
“Secure has benefitted significantly over the last six years from the operational support and strategic guidance Vance Street Capital provided,” said Allen Ronk, CEO of Secure. “Since 2009 our team of engineers has grown from less than ten to over 55 and our program base has grown from less than 30 to over 135. We remain focused on the many opportunities we see to meet and exceed our customers’ needs and continue to drive growth.”
Brian Martin, Principal at Vance Street Capital, added, “We believe Secure is very well positioned for the future. It is clear to us that Secure will have strong support from Benchmark as they collaborate to build on the platform Allen and his team have created.”
Harris Williams & Co. is acting as financial advisor to Secure, and O’Melveny & Myers is acting as its legal counsel. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as financial advisor to Benchmark, and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is acting as its legal counsel.