Announcing thepurchase of Visual Comfort and a commercial partnership with Generation Brands,AEA CEO Andy Singer will be present when Visual Comfort Group introduces morethan 350 brand-new designs during the Light ovation event, which runs fromJanuary, according to AEA Investors' mid-market private equity team. TheSingers refute any claims that this decision will cause Visual Comfort to loseits brand's appeal and emphasize that both organizations have always supportedcommerce while never doing so exclusively.
On February 7, Moody'sInvestors Service said that AEA Investors LP, which purchased Generation Brandsthe previous year, had agreed to buy Visual Comfort& Co. Although bothbusinesses have become well-known in the design world, there has always beensome ambiguity regarding the link between Circa and Visual Comfort in a fieldthat is already highly fragmented. The Singers contend that with the launch ofa new site in their region, their retail shoppers will receive even moresecondary shine since the entire firm is now concentrated on the Visual Comfortbrand.
28 February 2017; NewYork Visual Comfort & Co. ("Visual Comfort" or the"Firm") has been purchased by AEA Investors' ("AEA" or the"Firm") Middle Market Private Equity team, which will combine it withanother portfolio company, Generation Brands, to become Visual Comfort Group(the "Combined Company").
A premier platform inthe mid-tier and premium home lighting segments has been created by the unionof Visual Comfort and Generation Brands, two of the industry's top decorativelighting platforms. The global leader in decorative designer lighting, VisualComfort offers a wide range of aesthetic preferences at high price points. A"total space solution" in decorative lighting is produced by thecombination of Generation Brands and high-quality lighting products that coverthe whole spectrum of pricing points and design aesthetics. The acquisitionoffers the chance to collaborate with Visual Comfort's founder and president,Andy Singer, who over the past 30 years has transformed the company into amarket leader in decorative lighting.
The AEA
The Rockefeller,Mellon, and Harriman family interests as well as S.G. Warburg & Co. createdAEA Investors LP in 1968 as a private investment vehicle for a select group ofindustrial family offices with significant assets. Leading industrial families,business executives, and leaders are part of AEA's extraordinary globalnetwork, which has been developed over many years. Many of these individualsinvest with AEA as active individual investors ("Participants")and/or serve on the boards of its portfolio companies or in other advisorycapacities. Today, AEA's 65 or so investment specialists work out of offices inShanghai, New York, Connecticut, London, Munich, and London. The companymanages funds with about $10 billion in invested and committed money, includingmezzanine and senior loan investments as well as leveraged buyouts of middlemarket and small business enterprises. Value-added industrials, consumers, andservices are the three sectors in which AEA Private Equity makes investments.
ConcerningGeneration Brands
One of the toplighting firms in the country, Generation Brands provides products to lightingshops as well as the electrical wholesale, home improvement, and constructionsectors. With excellent customer service, cutting-edge design, and greatquality, Generation Brands' impressive line of residential and commerciallighting fixtures and ceiling fans add value for its clients and end users.
Concerning VisualComfort
Visual Comfort &Co. has been the go-to source for distinctive designer lighting since 1987.Visual Comfort has created lighting with some of the most renowned designersfor almost 30 years utilizing premium-quality natural materials anddistinctive, hand-applied, live finishes. A wide range of lighting options fromVisual Comfort includes numerous well-known designs that are representative ofboth great style and utility.
There has been some misunderstandingover whether Circa is a manufacturer, a retailer, or both (it is a retailer)and whether Visual Comfort is exclusive to the retailer (it is not) in morethan one interaction with a designer, even among regular customers of the twocompanies. One of the top producers of lighting for both stores and the designsector was Andy's Visual Comfort. According to the Singers, centering thebusiness on the Visual Comfort brand will enhance brand recognition amongconsumers and make it simpler for designers to clinch sales with their clients.The rumored acquisition of Visual Comfort by Generation Brands has generated alot of interest in the domestic lighting sector.
The second subject tobe discussed after the acquisition was announced was how Visual Comfort willfit into the Generation Brands framework. Visual Comfort is an award-winninglighting company with a loyal following among interior designers and lightingshops. In actuality, the spark to alter the brand was reignited by a somewhat contentiousargument with the proprietor of lighting business. Additionally, the company'slighting partners at Generations Brands declared the Visual Comfort Group asits new corporate name. Visual Comfort speculated that Gale had established amodest but successful network of Circa Lighting showrooms that focused onselling.
It's also true thatmaking Visual Comfort a more well-known brand among homeowners may make itappear less like a "trade-in" item to interior designers. VisualComfort was supposed to be the creator in the background in the world ofsingers, whereas Circa Lighting would have a direct line to the consumer.
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WHAT LGP IS
Leading LosAngeles-based private equity investment company LGP was established in 1989. Toinvest in market-leading firms, the firm collaborates with competent managementteams and frequently with founders. LGP has made approximately 100 investmentsin businesses since its formation, including typical buyouts, going-privatedeals, recapitalizations, growth equity, and carefully chosen public equity anddebt positions. The company primarily focuses on businesses that offer services,including retail, distribution, industrials, business, and healthcare services.Since its establishment, LGP has raised approximately $40 billion in committedcapital.
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