Three family investment groups co-invest in energy private equity deal

Three families have joined forces to recapitalise Energy Distribution Partners, a company which distributes propane to retail and commercial customers in North America.

The deal was led by Pritzker Private Capital, renowned for a succession of co-investment deals and respect for family values. The transaction forms part of a renewal of family interest in buying, and renewing, old economy companies, as outlined by Family Capital earlier this week. 

Chief executive Thomas Knauff started EDP in 2012. He has spent 30 years running propane companies, with deals and partnerships playing a crucial role in expansion. A PPC spokeswoman declined to confirm financial details relating to his latest deal.

Duchossois Capital Management, a private investment firm, has invested alongside PPC, whose CEO and chairman is Tony Pritzker. Managing partner Paul Carbone was recently named as one of Family Capital’s 100 Influencers.

DCM’s owners, the Duchossois family, has also used deals to develop, and refresh, a range of businesses. It grew out of a business started in 1906 by Andrew Chamberlain which produced rope belts for cream manufacturers. 

It went on to diversify into railroad equipment washing machine parts and defence supplies. The Duchossois family took control of the operation from 1970. It invested in the horse racing business and started a technology division in 1998.

It co-invested in a technology business with the Pritzker family in 2013 but exited four years later.

The Steans family are backers to Concentric Equity Partners which is the third EDP investment partner. The family own Financial Investments Corporation, which manages investments worth $2 billion. FIC acquired and sold a string of banks over the years. Concentric sets out to provide entrepreneurs with resources to help their businesses grow.

Harrison Steans started FIC in 1967, working with his daughter Jennifer to develop private equity interests from 1994. In 2007, FIC merged with Concentric to make direct investments in private companies. Steans died in February 2019, but Jennifer Steans remains a Concentric partner.