Facilitating Growth Through Acquisition
Nivel supplies more than 4,000 golf car parts, including battery parts, bearings, brake components, chargers, body accessories, motors and related replacement parts for all makes and models, including Club Car, E-Z-Go, and Yamaha. Nivel is recognized for its leading product catalog, which is distributed to more than 2,000 dealers worldwide. Nivel also publishes a bimonthly magazine targeted at golf car dealers and a classified newsletter for buyers and sellers of used golf cars.
Background
Nivel was founded in 1968 in Miami by Leo Levin (Nivel is Levin spelled backwards). Mr. Levin, a Chicago auto dealership owner who spent winters in Florida, had difficulty finding parts for his golf car and correctly believed an aftermarket golf car parts distribution business fulfilled a market need. Twenty years later, he sold Nivel to an employee of his auto dealership. In 1998, Nivel was acquired by a family who conducted a limited auction in 2004. Sentinel won due to the rapport we established with management and the family, and the certainty we provided to close the transaction.
Opportunity
To help Nivel expand its product offering and diversify geographically by acquiring smaller niche players in a highly fragmented market
Accomplishments
Led Market Consolidation: Under Sentinel ownership, Nivel acquired HT Electric, a designer of performance golf car motors, and IMC, a leader in the design and outsourced manufacture of golf car accessories. The add-ons broadened Nivel’s product catalog and expanded its footprint into the West and Pacific Northwest.
Built Out Management Team and Infrastructure: Sentinel recruited a seasoned manufacturing and distribution CEO. We also helped management complete the integration of HT and IMC, move into a larger state-of-the-art distribution facility, and expand Nivel’s foreign sourcing capabilities.
Outcome
These initiatives enabled Nivel to become the clear leader in the North American golf car parts market and produced dramatic sales and profit growth. After nearly four years, Sentinel and management had more than doubled the size of the business and achieved the growth objectives established at the outset. In 2007, Sentinel sold Nivel to another private equity sponsor in a successful transaction for Sentinel and its management partners.
Case studies have been selected for illustrative purposes for management teams of midmarket companies considering a partnership with Sentinel and should not be considered an offer or solicitation of services or an actual or implied endorsement of Sentinel or any security, investment, or portfolio company. The portfolio companies highlighted are not representative of all current and prior investments of Sentinel. A list and description of investments since Sentinel’s inception is available on this website.