The Stephens Group Agrees to Sell Portfolio Company Catalyst Acoustics

(The Stephens Group)

The Stephens Group LLC of Little Rock has agreed to sell portfolio company Catalyst Acoustics Group of Agawam, Massachusetts, to New York investment firm KPS Capital Partners LP.

The transaction is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter. Terms were not disclosed.

The Stephens Group combined a group of acoustic, seismic, vibration and noise control companies to form Catalyst in 2020. Since then, the company has seen “consistent year-over-year financial growth through an intentional balance of M&A activity and organic focus,” according to a news release announcing the sale.

Catalyst’s brands include Frasch, IAC Acoustics, Kinetics Noise Control, Lamvin, Noise Barriers, RealAcoustix, Madrid and Sound Seal. The company has about 550 employees and operates six manufacturing facilities across the U.S., as well as a dedicated testing center.

“Together, we built a market leader, and The Stephens Group is proud of the growth the Company experienced under our watch,” Grant Jones, managing director of The Stephens Group, said in the release. “We are excited to pass the baton to KPS for the next chapter of success.”

KPS said it plans to continue growing Catalyst organically and through strategic acquisitions.

“The Stephens Group always understood how critical brand and channel preservation is to our organization, and I am pleased to report that KPS shares this outlook,” Catalyst CEO Joe Lupone said. “We look forward to a bright future under KPS’ ownership and to providing expanded opportunities to our loyal customers.”

KPS, through its affiliated management entities, is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of investment funds with $21.8 billion of assets under management.

The Stephens Group has more than $2 billion of private equity assets under management. Since 2006, the firm has invested in more than 50 companies, targeting investments in industries across the U.S., including industrial products and services, specialty distribution, and vertical software.