Unicoa Acquired by NEFCO

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Investment bank Charter Capital Partners announced that its client, Unicoa, has been acquired by NEFCO, a premier specialty supply partner to the professional construction trades. The transaction was led by Mark Streekstra, Partner and Managing Director, Jenny Dakoske, Director, Justin Pinto, Vice President, Dylan Stenzinger, Analyst, and Mike Brown, Partner and Managing Director.

"We are excited to partner with NEFCO and expand both our reach and ability to continue to put our customer first," said Unicoa President John Paul (J.P.) Labbe. "We believe that this partnership will offer many opportunities and growth for our customers and associates. Both cultures are rooted in the same family-operated model, with individualized customer service being the cornerstone. Unicoa offers NEFCO an introduction to the Phoenix Tools and Safety market and we are all very excited for what the future has in store."

According to Mark Streekstra, "This transaction is a significant milestone to J.P. and the entire Unicoa team and is a testament to their relentless drive in growing the business to what it is today. I'm proud that Charter could play a role in helping them achieve their goals and am excited to see what the future holds for the combined company."

Unicoa was incorporated by Larry F. Pershing in 1973 beginning as a two-man bearing supply operation in Glendale, Arizona. Larry prided himself on the importance of establishing relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees. In 2019, Mr. Pershing completed the sale of Unicoa to J.P. Labbe. Prior to acquiring Unicoa, J.P. held numerous positions at Unicoa and throughout his ownership he remained committed to Larry's original vision while growing the company's reach and presence throughout Arizona.

Matthew Gelles, President and CEO of NEFCO, expressed his enthusiasm about the acquisition, "We are thrilled to partner with J.P. and the rest of the incredible team at Unicoa. Unicoa has built a tremendous reputation in the Phoenix and Tucson markets for dependable delivery, large inventories, and unmatched customer service. The combination of Southwest Fastener and Unicoa successfully marries NEFCO's full product offering, SHARP®? via Southwest Fastener and Tools+ via Unicoa and establishes the combined business as one of the largest local construction supply distributors in the greater Phoenix market."

About Unicoa
Since 1973, Unicoa has been supplying a broad variety of tools, equipment, and accessories for the construction, pipeline, and industrial business in Phoenix and Tucson. Unicoa is a family-operated business that believes in competitive pricing and treating the customer as the most important priority. www.unicoa.com

About NEFCO
NEFCO is a family owned and operated construction supply company providing a broad range of products and services to a large variety of professional contractors. With 39 locations throughout the United States, NEFCO provides localized, contractor centric services including extensive industry expertise, large local inventories, fast dependable jobsite delivery, turnkey engineering services, and specialty fabrication and assembly of construction materials. www.gonefco.com

About Charter
Founded in 1989, Charter Capital Partners is an investment banking firm serving the middle market, offering merger and acquisition advisory expertise in business sale and acquisition, capital raise, business valuation and succession planning. Our goal is to deliver superior investment banking services to business owners throughout the complete business lifecycle. The Charter team helps corporations, family-owned businesses, private equity groups and family offices optimize transitions from acquisition through growth to eventual sale. www.chartercapitalpartners.com.

Certain principals of Charter acted in their capacity as licensed investment banking agents of M&A Securities Group, Inc. Member FINRA/SiPC, a separate entity from Charter Capital Partners

SOURCE Charter Capital Partners