Minneapolis, MN — Gartner Refrigeration Inc. (“Gartner”), a portfolio company of Orion Financial Corporation, Stewart Capital Partners, and Franklin Companies, has been acquired by a strategic industry buyer. Hennepin served as the exclusive financial advisor to Gartner and DeWitt LLP acted as legal counsel. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Since its founding eighty years ago, Gartner has grown to become a trusted designer, builder, and servicer of industrial refrigeration systems. Its annual output represents a balanced mix of system replacements, retrofits, upgrades, and new construction.
Gartner primarily serves customers in the food production industry, where the cost of downtime is prohibitive and the need for reliability is paramount. Its focus on food producers gives Gartner a significant degree of recession resistance.
Gartner’s business model is supported by one of the industry’s largest in-house engineering teams. Much of Gartner’s business is conducted directly with end-users who appreciate Gartner’s technical expertise and application knowledge.
Hennepin ran a targeted auction process from which a strategic industry player emerged as the successful bidder. The buyer is a large and growing mechanical, electrical, and sheet metal contractor with multiple locations across the Midwest. The acquisition of Gartner expands the buyer’s capabilities and gives it a foothold in Minnesota.