Pestell Group Acquires BPV Environmental

Chicago, IL, October 3, 2018 – Wind Point Partners and portfolio company Pestell Group (“Pestell” or the “Company”) are pleased to announce today that Pestell has acquired BPV Environmental (“BPV”) through its Pestell Pet Products (“PET”) business unit. BPV, founded in 2001 and headquartered in Byron Center, MI, is a leading manufacturer of alternative, paper-based animal litter, small animal bedding, and lawn and garden products.  

The combination of Pestell and BPV creates the opportunity to leverage both companies’ complementary products, brand portfolios, and distribution networks in the U.S. and Canada. BPV manufactures both private label and branded pet care and lawn and garden products, selling its products through retailers, distributors, and other manufacturers. BPV facilitates additional avenues of growth for Pestell, with the Company’s product portfolio now including paper-based cat and multi-cat litter, small animal litter, small animal bedding, mulch and lawn patches.

Matt Miller, Pestell Group CEO, expressed, “I am happy to welcome the entire BPV team into the Pestell Group organization. Both businesses share common values, cultures and customer bases, and we are excited about the future with this combination.  We believe BPV and Pestell customers will be excited to hear about the additional opportunities we can now provide as a combined organization."

Paul Peterson, Managing Director with Wind Point Partners, stated, “BPV provides significant strategic value for Pestell as it increases the Company’s product breadth and further expands Pestell into the Midwestern United States. Entrepreneurs Marty Phelan, Tom Vogeler, and Jody Black have built a fantastic business and we are eager to continue growing it with Pestell.”

The acquisition of BPV continues Wind Point’s long history of partnering and working with family-held businesses and marks Pestell’s first acquisition as the Company seeks to expand its product offering and geographic presence for its customer base. 

Marty Phelan, Co-Owner of BPV, said, “The merging of BPV and Pestell, with the support of Wind Point, will create a solid foundation that will help accelerate our growth. Through this process we’ve built strong relationships with the Pestell and Wind Point teams and are extremely confident they’ll be able to take BPV to the next phase of its growth. I’m excited for the opportunities this transaction creates for our BPV team members, customers and vendors.”

Wind Point Partners acquired Pestell in June of 2018 in partnership with Matt Miller, a more than 20-year veteran of the pet and consumer industries. In cooperation with Matt and management of Pestell and BPV, Wind Point will seek to continue expanding the Pestell platform through a combination of organic growth and complementary acquisitions like BPV. The Wind Point investment team has considerable experience in consumer products, including the pet industry, which has been an area of focus for the firm since its founding in 1984.

Antares Capital, BMO Sponsor Finance and PennantPark led the debt financing for the transaction. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Pestell.