SALINA — JGB Enterprises Inc., which supplies hoses and hose assemblies for commercial and military applications, is now under new ownership. 

Jay Bernhardt, founder, owner, and CEO, sold the business to Washington, D.C.–based HCI Equity Partners. The acquisition closed on Dec. 13, says Bernhardt, who spoke with CNYBJ on Dec. 21. He declined to disclose the acquisition price. 

Bernhardt, who launched his firm nearly 42 years ago, calls the decision to sell “bitter sweet.” At age 75, he has “some health issues” and neither of his children work in the business, so the sale represents a succession plan for him.

In the deal, HCI acquired JGB’s stock, customer list, and about 300 employees. “Just everything to do with the business,” he noted.

JGB are Bernhardt’s initials, and when asked if HCI would retain the company’s name, he replied, “Yes, I think they will because of the military sales and the fact that they have bought my property and that’s gone along with the sale.”

JGB Enterprises is headquartered at 115 Metropolitan Drive in Salina. It also owns property along Crossroads Park Drive in Clay and operates locations in Buffalo; Charlotte, North Carolina; St. Louis, Missouri; Houston, Texas; and Williston, North Dakota, Bernhardt says.

Of its employee count, about 250 people work locally, and the remaining 50 employees work at the branches that are outside the market.

Los Angeles, California–based Houlihan Lokey (NYSE: HLI) assisted Bernhardt in the sales process, he says. 

Houlihan Lokey assembled a profile report on JGB Enterprises, which was distributed to potential buyers. As a result, 10 companies presented letters of intent to purchase the firm.

“Out of the 10 letters that we received, we picked HCI,” says Bernhardt.

HCI on JGB

Washington, D.C.–based HCI Equity Partners is a private-equity firm which invests in “growth oriented” industrial product and service companies, per its website. The members of the firm “partner” with owners and managers of industrial companies, with a focus on “assisting with operational improvements and supporting growth initiatives,” its website says.

In a December 2018 news release on its website, HCI describes JGB Enterprises as a “value-added assembler and supplier of industrial and hydraulic hose and hose accessories.”

Its products are used in a “variety of end-markets,” including oil and gas, agriculture, mining, construction, marine, chemical, food, commercial and government, including the U.S. Department of Defense and the Fort Belvoir, Virginia–based Defense Logistics Agency.

JGB Enterprises services more than 4,000 customers annually, HCI said.

“JGB offers one of the broadest portfolios of hose and hose assembly products in the industry. The company’s hoses are selected and assembled to meet specific size, pressure, temperature and material requirements in critical applications,” per the HCI release.

JGB Enterprises generated sales of about $137 million in 2018, Bernhardt tells CNYBJ.

What’s next for Bernhardt

The JGB brand is also associated with a company called JGB Properties of Syracuse, which Bernhardt says isn’t part of this deal. 

“My next job is to handle JGB Properties,” he says. “I still own them. I have to figure out what to do with them.” 

Beyond his work with JGB Properties, Bernhardt is “going to pretty much be retired.”

Besides his nearly 42 years with JGB Enterprises, Bernhardt also worked for two other companies, saying he’s worked in the industrial-hose business for about 50 years. Bernhardt was among the recipients of a Legacy Award in 2013, in an awards program presented by the Business Journal News Network and BizEventz.