Press release, February 5, 2007
BERKSHIRE PARTNERS INVESTS IN MASTERPLAN
Boston, MA - February 5, 2007 - Berkshire Partners LLC, a Boston-based private equity firm, today announced that it is providing growth capital to Masterplan, Inc. and ReMedPar, Inc. to help continue their demonstrated record of strong growth and customer service. Masterplan provides service, maintenance and asset management for a wide range of medical equipment to hospitals, integrated health systems and patient facilities. ReMedPar is the leading independent provider of sourced and refurbished medical equipment parts. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1974 and headquartered in Chatsworth, California, Masterplan provides superior outsourced repair and maintenance services to medical facilities for diagnostic imaging machines including MRIs, CT scanners, and cath labs, and for biomedical equipment including sterilizers, anesthesia equipment and lab equipment. Masterplan's highly-qualified staff of imaging and clinical engineers and technical support personnel is distinguished by its unbiased technology assessment, consulting and regulatory compliance assistance.
Masterplan also offers a proprietary software system, I-Desk, which provides real-time detailed information to hospital administrators on the status and performance of equipment via the Internet. In addition, I-Desk allows Masterplan to effectively monitor its field organization to ensure that issues are resolved in a timely and cost efficient manner. Masterplan also has remote diagnostic capabilities where a technician can view scans and equipment performance on a real-time basis to help diagnose equipment problems, whatever their location.
"Our investment in Masterplan couples Berkshire's significant investment experience in the business service sector with our continued interest in investing in companies with a proven track record of growth and stability," said Randy Peeler, Managing Director for Berkshire Partners. "Masterplan provides an invaluable service by providing one source of maintenance and repair for virtually all of the thousands of pieces of medical equipment in a hospital. Through contracting with Masterplan, hospitals are able to significantly reduce their operating budgets. The Company is well-positioned to support the growth of its current customer base as well as pursue new opportunities."
As part of the transaction Berkshire Partners will also invest in ReMedPar. ReMedPar is the largest independent provider of multi-vendor sourced and refurbished parts for medical equipment in the world and generates significant savings for healthcare organizations.
"Berkshire Partners has a demonstrated track record of building good companies into even stronger companies," said Masterplan CEO David Winn. "We believe that Berkshire's experienced team will help us to achieve our long-term growth strategies and solidify our leadership position in the healthcare industry."
Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. and Ares Capital Corporation. Harris Williams acted as the Company's financial advisor in the transaction. Masterplan was previously owned by Three Cities Research and Camden Partners.
About Masterplan
Masterplan lowers the cost of owning medical equipment by delivering reliable, high quality maintenance services as well as information and consulting that facilitates capital asset planning decisions. Masterplan is one of the largest independent service organizations in the $6 billion domestic medical equipment services market. The Company serves more than 1,400 healthcare facilities nationwide including exclusive long term contracts and relationships with several large national and regional systems. Masterplan is headquartered in Chatsworth, CA, and has operations in 32 states. For more information, please visit Masterplan at www.masterplan-inc.com or call 1-800-950-2647.
About ReMedPar
ReMedPar supplies the highest quality replacement parts and aftermarket equipment available in the healthcare industry. Headquartered in Goodlettsville, TN, ReMedPar has provided customer solutions for healthcare service providers for over 18 years and since 2000, has been the largest independent provider of vendor support services for medical equipment in the world. ReMedPar is positioned to meet the diverse technical needs of organizations in all areas of medical imaging equipment. For more information, please visit ReMedPar at www.remedpar.com or call 1-800-624-3994.
About Berkshire Partners
Berkshire Partners has invested in mid-sized private companies for more than 20 years through seven investment funds with aggregate capital commitments of approximately $6.5 billion. Berkshire seeks companies with acquisition values between $200 million and $1.5 billion and in a given transaction makes equity investments of approximately $50 million to $350 million. Berkshire has developed specific industry experience in several areas, including retailing, consumer products, business services, manufacturing, transportation and communications. The firm's transactions have included acquisitions, growth equity investments, and turnarounds. Over the past two decades, Berkshire has been an investor in 90 operating companies with more than $19 billion of acquisition value and combined revenues in excess of $21 billion. For additional information, visit www.berkshirepartners.com.
About Three Cities Research
Three Cities Research is a New York-based private equity firm with approximately $700 million of funds under management. For over three decades, Three Cities Research has been investing in a wide variety of industries, including industrial manufacturing, distribution, apparel, publishing, services and retailing. Our investment focus is on businesses that are substantially underperforming their potential. We deploy dedicated resources to deeply understand the value proposition and competitive environment of our portfolio companies, and we partner with our management teams to develop and execute winning strategies. For additional information, please visit www.tcr-ny.com.