Blue Wolf Capital Partners
Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC is an American private equity firm based in New York City, New York, founded in 2005 by Adam Blumenthal and Josh Wolf-Powers. Blue Wolf's investments include middle-market companies in health care, forest and building products, as well as in the manufacturing, industrial, and engineering services sectors. The firm has raised four funds to date and manages more than $2.9 billion in capital as of the end of 2022.[1]
Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Private Equity |
Founded | 2005 |
Founders | Adam Blumenthal Josh Wolf-Powers |
Headquarters | New York, New York |
Key people | Adam Blumenthal, Managing Partner |
Products | Leveraged buyout, growth capital, special situations |
Total assets | $2.9 billion[1] |
Website | www |
History
Blue Wolf Capital Partners was founded in 2005 by Adam Blumenthal, who previously served as first deputy comptroller for New York City and managed American Capital Ltd,[2] and Josh Wolf-Powers, a managing director for private investments for the New York State Comptroller's office.[3] Blue Wolf utilizes Environmental, Social, and Governance principles and integrates them into its value creation strategies.[4] Both Blumenthal and Wolf-Powers initially served as managing partners of Blue Wolf.[5] Wolf-Powers has since left the firm for a career as a clinical social worker.[6]
Blue Wolf often invests in companies that are regulated by government policies or receive government subsidies and are facing financial distress or labor issues.[7] The firm's strategy usually focuses on acquiring controlling stakes in companies that are involved in complex challenges including leadership transitions, distress or government regulation.[8] It has invested in companies with annual revenue of more than $50 million and enterprise values of $500 million.[9][10] Its third fund closed in July 2013 after raising more than $300 million. Its fourth and most recent fund of $540 million was raised in October 2017.[11][12]
Operations and acquisitions
Blue Wolf initially acquired several companies including Finch Paper Holdings, Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corp., and Montauk Energy Capital.[13] In 2008, Blue Wolf's second fund acquired two laundries from Chicago hospitals, merging them into Healthcare Laundry Systems and selling it in 2011 after increasing its volume by 70%.[3][14] Through this investment Blue Wolf won the 2011 Small Market Deal of the Year award from Buyouts Magazine.[15] The firm had previously won the same award in 2008 for its investment in Montauk Energy Capital.[16]
In 2017, Blue Wolf invested $20 million to revive a sawmill in Glenwood, Arkansas, that had declared bankruptcy during the Great Recession. The company joined the portfolio as Caddo River Forest Products and directly created 130 jobs.[9][17] In May 2018, Blue Wolf sold Caddo River and Suwannee Lumber Co., which it had invested in 2013, to Conifex Timber for a total of $258 million in cash and shares.[18][19]
In February 2018, Blue Wolf acquired a majority stake in Petrosmith, an Abilene, Texas-based manufacturer of storage tanks.[20] In April 2018, Blue Wolf announced a merger between two of its home-based care providers – Great Lakes Caring and National Home Health Care — with Jordan Health Services, to create one of the largest providers of home-based care in the nation known as Elara Caring.[21] The new company serves more than 65,000 patients on a daily basis and employs more than 32,500 caregivers in 225 locations in 16 US states.[22][23]
In May 2019, Blue Wolf acquired Fox Rehabilitation, an in-home medical care provider for seniors under Medicare Part B.[24] In October 2020, Blue Wolf sold Pharmaceutical Strategies Group, a Plano, Texas-based consulting firm for pharmacy benefits to Omnicell for $225 million.[25] In March 2021, Blue Wolf acquired an Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois-based manufacture of caster and wheels, Colson Group.[26]
References
- "Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC – 2022 ADV Filing" (PDF). SEC.gov. April 16, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- "Adam Blumenthal '89". Yale School of Management. August 14, 2017. Archived from the original on July 14, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- Yerak, Becky (December 3, 2008). "N.Y. fund awash with area hospital laundry". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 4, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- "Barking up a new sustainability tree". Private Equity International. February 21, 2018.
- Primack, Dan (September 2, 2008). "Blue Wolf Bites Into $100 Million". PE Hub. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- McLain, Tiffany (February 8, 2021). "The Money Sessions: How Josh Went from Wall Street to Social Work with Zero Ambivalence About Making Bank And Giving Back". Heytiffany.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- Yerak, Becky (December 3, 2008). "N.Y. fund awash with area hospital laundry". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- Janiec, Chris (May 18, 2018). "Blue Wolf sells two US Southeast sawmills for $200m". Agri Investor. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- Cooper, Laura (November 27, 2017). "LBO Profile: Blue Wolf Embraces Complexity in a Regulated World". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- "Company Overview of Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC". Bloomberg L.P. May 6, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- "Blue Wolf Capital Partners Raises $540M For Oversubscribed Fourth Fund". FINalternatives. October 23, 2017. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- Leach, Kamaron (October 23, 2017). "Blue Wolf raises new PE fund, following StateServ purchase". Mergers & Acquisitions. Archived from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- Primack, Dan (September 2, 2008). "Blue Wolf Bites Into $100 Million". PE Hub. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- Ivanova, Irina (April 10, 2014). "Private capital transformed health care—outside NY". Crain's New York. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- "Blue Wolf Wins Small Market Deal Award for HLS Investment". American Laundry News. June 27, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- Primack, Dan (September 2, 2008). "Blue Wolf Bites Into $100 Million". PE Hub. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- "Arkansas town sees more jobs with sawmill revival". Capital Press. June 9, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- "Conifex buying U.S. sawmills for $258 million to add 50 per cent more capacity". Financial Post. May 15, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
- Dalheim, Robert (July 10, 2018). "Suwannee Lumber and Caddo River Forest sold to Conifex Timber". Woodworking Network. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- "Blue Wolf Buys Majority Stake in Petrosmith". Wall Street Journal. February 12, 2018. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- Mullaney, Tim (July 17, 2018). "Jordan, Great Lakes, National Home Health Rebrand as Elara Caring". Home Health Care News. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- "Great Lakes Caring, National Home Health Care, and Jordan Health Services Merge to Become Leader in Home-Based Care". Business Wire. April 10, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- Holly, Robert (January 8, 2020). "Blue Wolf Capital Partners Names COO; Better Medicare Alliance Hires Policy Director". Home Health Care News. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- Pringle, Sarah (May 6, 2019). "Blue Wolf acquires Fox Rehabilitation after bank-run process stalled". PE Hub. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- Shen, Lucinda (October 5, 2020). "Alibaba's making an opportunistic investment in Dufry". Fortune. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- Sraders, Anne (March 2, 2021). "SPACs just had a record-setting monster month". Fortune. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.