Northborne Partners

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – May 8, 2023 – Northborne Partners is pleased to announce that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to Ceramic Industrial Coatings (“Ceramic”) on its acquisition by Canlak Coatings (“Canlak”), a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.

With more than 50 years of experience, Ceramic is a leading manufacturer and supplier of specialty coatings and associated products with a focus on high quality, wood applications. Ceramic has a strong brand reputation as a supplier of custom, proprietary water- and solvent-based wood coatings. Ceramic also provides comprehensive, full-scale production capabilities for related CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers) products.

Canlak Coatings is a leading formulator and manufacturer of high-quality wood coating systems for commercial and residential flooring, sports flooring, cabinet, furniture, and wood focused architectural applications. The acquisition of Ceramic is highly complementary and enhances Canlak’s geographic coverage in the U.S. while strengthening focus in OEM wood coatings. The combined business will offer a comprehensive portfolio of wood coating products and provides Ceramic’s customers access to Canlak’s differentiated ultraviolet and water-based coating technologies.

Ben Marks, Managing Director at Northborne, said, “This is truly a transformative deal in the wood coatings market, which continues to be an area with significant organic growth and strong strategic interest. This transaction adds to Northborne’s growing chemicals and materials advisory franchise.”

Rob Laubscher, President of Ceramic reacted saying “We are tremendously excited for our future partnership with Canlak Coatings, believing all stakeholders will benefit. Our customers will now have access to additional specialized ultraviolet and low VOC coating technology offered by Canlak Coatings.” Regarding Northborne’s involvement, he commented, “The Northborne team’s deep knowledge and very recent transaction experience in the coatings industry was instrumental in helping us achieve this fantastic outcome.”

Fox Rothschild served as legal advisor to Ceramic.

About Northborne Partners

Northborne Partners is a preeminent middle market investment banking firm focused on providing M&A advisory services to companies in the food & consumer, healthcare and industrials sectors, among others. It specializes in advising private-equity-owned and closely-held businesses on complex sell-side transactions. Northborne Partners is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. For more information, please visit northborne.com.

About Ceramic Industrial Coatings

Headquartered in Osseo, Minnesota. Ceramic has more than 50 years of experience in the coatings space. Ceramic is a leading manufacturer and supplier of specialty coatings and associated products with a focus on high quality, wood applications. Ceramic has a strong brand reputation supplying custom, proprietary water and solvent-based wood coatings. Ceramic also provides comprehensive, full-scale production capabilities for related CASE products. To learn more about Ceramic, please visit www.paints.com.

About Canlak Coatings

Headquartered in North Brunswick, New Jersey. Canlak operates from four production facilities across the United States and Canada. Canlak is a formulator and manufacturer of high-quality wood coating systems for commercial and residential flooring, sports flooring, cabinet, furniture, and wood focused architectural applications. Canlak offers a portfolio of coating technologies, including UV-cured, waterborne, high-performance polyurethanes and traditional lacquers and varnishes. Canlak provides custom and standardized formulations for OEM and Refinish applicators.

About SK Capital Partners

SK Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on the specialty materials, ingredients, and life sciences sectors. Since its founding in 2007, SK Capital has raised 7 funds and has in aggregate over $7.2B of assets under management and over 20 portfolio companies. Collectively, SK Capital is one of the largest global companies in its sectors. SK Capital is headquartered in New York, New York. Additional information is available on SK Capital’s website at www.skcapitalpartners.com.