Private equity firm has HVACR focus

USA: A number of former Carrier management personnel are involved in a new private equity firm focused on the HVAC and refrigeration market.

Cold Chain Capital, based in Fayetteville, NY, has been founded by Greg Deldicque, who spent 13 years at UTC, most recently as VP and general manager, Carrier Refrigeration Mechanical Systems.

He is being supported in the new venture by Ken Fox, former president Carrier Commercial HVAC NA; Mark Cywilko, a former president of Carrier Transicold; Jean-Pierre Xiberras, a former president of UTC subsidiary Profroid; Brad Hardesty, a former senior VP at UTC; and entrepreneur investor Bertrand Bigay. Between them, they have a combined HVACR and investment experience of more than 200 years.

Cold Chain Capital says it is looking to make control investments in middle-market HVACR companies with revenues between $50m and $500m. Initial funding is already said to have been secured and bids have been made on two companies.

Investments will span OEM/manufacturing, service/installation and wholesale/distribution. Geographically, the focus will be on companies with headquarters in North America, South America and Europe.

“We see exciting private equity opportunities in the air conditioning and refrigeration industries,” Deldicque said.

Amongst a number of attributes, the investors see the HVACR industry as being attractive due to its size, growth and high fragmentation.

“Cold Chain Capital’s clear focus on HVACR middle-market companies and operational capabilities provide clear benefits to its portfolio companies, their management teams and potential sellers,” Deldicque added.

Investments in companies at all stages of their business cycles are said to be of interest, including business growth, transformations, turn-arounds (including negative EBITDA or free cash-flow), carve-outs and roll-ups.

Prior to founding Cold Chain Capital, Greg Deldicque held a variety of executive positions. In addition to his senior executive roles at Carrier, he worked as a principal with the Boston Consulting Group and was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs International. During his career, he is said to have completed more than 20 business acquisitions and divestitures. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a bachelor in business from ESSEC Business School in France.