Graham Partners’ Industrial Connectivity Platform Advances Acquisition Strategy

B&B Electronics, a Graham Partners industrial technology portfolio company, has acquired Conel s.r.o. Through this acquisition, B&B increases its European footprint, broadens its portfolio of connectivity solutions, and strengthens its position in the fast-growing market for machine-to-machine, ruggedized, industrial connectivity solutions. With Graham’s active involvement, B&B is successfully pursuing a strategy of expanding its product offering via acquisition.

B&B’s acquisition of Conel provides a second presence in Europe and enhances its product portfolio. Conel, based in the Czech Republic, is a global leader in reliable and secure industrial-quality wireless communications devices. A demonstrated innovator in cellular connectivity solutions, Conel manufactures routers, gateways and modems that connect cellular networks to Ethernet, serial and other data networks. These new products complement B&B’s core industrial connectivity products.

With this acquisition, B&B solidifies its position as a leading player in industrial connectivity solutions. Graham Partners partnered with Inverness Graham Investments to complete its initial acquisition of B&B in 2008. With a clear mandate to expand its product offering and active participation from ownership, B&B completed two add-ons in the past six months (B&B acquired Quatech in October 2011) and is currently pursuing other potential targets.

Graham’s strategy is to invest in companies benefiting from conversion trends in their industries. When it initially acquired B&B, Graham Partners predicated its investment thesis on the theory that the industrial connectivity market would grow as businesses seek to leverage technology to capture, analyze and use data to save time and money. B&B has grown steadily since Graham’s acquisition, as customers have increasingly sought to employ B&B’s solutions to connect isolated manufacturing equipment and create fully-integrated and networked manufacturing environments.

About B&B Electronics (www.bb-elec.com): Headquartered in Ottawa, Illinois, B&B is known globally as a one-stop source for rugged, reliable wireless connectivity and communications solutions backed by strong technical support. The Company’s principal end customers are middle market manufacturers that employ legacy industrial equipment that has not been networked or that operates on disparate technologies —- a market comprised of millions of machines. B&B’s networking products are designed specifically for rugged industrial environments and allow multiple technology interfaces (Ethernet, USB, wireless, serial, etc.) to operate within a network.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Andrew Snyder (asnyder@grahampartners.net)
Christina Morin (cmorin@grahampartners.net)
Tel: (610) 408-0500 / Fax: (610) 408-0600
www.grahampartners.net