Gary Willert, LMI Solutions
Gary Willert will be the first to admit that LMI Solutions has faced its share of challenges in recent years. But the CEO of LMI Solutions firmly believes his business has found in Turnspire Capital Partners the right fit to make it a competitive force in the North American remanufacturing landscape.
On Wednesday, LMI Solutions officially announced its partnership with New York City-based Turnspire, a private investment firm with substantial operational competencies and an extensive network of strategic resources. The partnership will enable LMI to accelerate its expansion and investments in manufacturing high-quality products for its extensive network of North American dealers. It also augments LMI’s position as a leading provider of MPS infrastructure (tools, resources, software and solutions), enabling dealers to successfully sell and operationalize services-based selling models.
“It’s no secret that we’ve had some bumps in the road,” Willert told ENX Magazine. “At this time, we’re ready to go to the next level and provide a good, solid alternative for the industry and the marketplace to have a choice of a low-cost, North American remanufacturer.”
In a release announcing the deal, Willert noted, “We are very excited to partner with Turnspire, whose executive team shares our vision for customer service, product quality, and industry commitment. We believe it’s important for dealers to have a reliable, high-quality choice in the market and Turnspire’s investment reinforces LMI’s commitment to deliver solutions that support our customers’ growth and success in the managed print services space. I am proud of what the LMI team has accomplished, and look forward to working together to achieve our business objectives.”
Willert had been vetting and interviewing potential private equity partners for about six months. He felt that Turnspire, given its expertise with manufacturing companies, its reputation for being operationally-driven and its ability to streamline the efficiencies and workflows of partners, made it an ideal fit for LMI Solutions.
Sebastian Bretschneider
Sebastian Bretschneider, who served an 11-month stint as interim president and CEO of Katun Corp. in 2015, played a key role in the consultancy of Turnspire and the due diligence process. He will join LMI Solutions’ board of directors.
“This deal will allow us to move forward and execute on a lot of our initiatives and continue the things we’ve been doing for years,” Willert said. “We’re fully committed to the value of bringing high-quality products to the marketplace, along with our managed print services offering that we’ve been continuously developing over the years. We’ve got some exciting new products that we’re going to be taking to market that enable resellers to improve their profitability and increase their revenue.”
Turnspire’s investment will also enable LMI to explore strategic acquisitions that can drive increased breadth and depth of products and services, and enhance their dealers’ long-term success. Possible targets could include U.S.-based remanufacturers or businesses that specialize in consumables or software, along with MPS solution providers.
“We certainly want to keep an open mind as opportunities present themselves,” he said. “Once we get a little farther down the road with Turnspire and solidify our relationship with them, we’ll be active in the (M&A) market.”
Ilya Koffman, managing partner of Turnspire, added, “We are impressed with the LMI leadership, which is driven to take the company and its customers to the next level. We are thrilled to be a part of bringing long-term stability to the company and providing reliable, quality, and accessible products. Our objective is to exceed customer expectations by focusing our time and efforts on driving operational excellence at LMI.”
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About LMI Solutions
LMI Solutions is an award-winning, managed print services infrastructure provider to the market, as well as an R2 certified manufacturer, distributor and recycler of premium replacement toner cartridges, related imaging supplies, and remanufactured printers. LMI distributes more than 5,000 SKUs, including the most popular OEM products, and is a recognized global leader for empowering dealers with managed print services and support throughout North America. Recently, INTEC member voting selected LMI as the winner of “The People’s Choice Award,” following the BTA’s “Best Remanufactured Cartridges,” and recognition from the MPSA and the coveted Readers’ Choice Award for the industries “Best MPS Program” and “MPS Infrastructure Provider.”
About Turnspire Capital Partners
Turnspire Capital Partners invests in high-quality businesses that have reached strategic, financial or operational inflection points and stand to benefit from our hands-on, operationally focused approach. Turnspire’s investment philosophy is predicated on creating value through operational improvements rather than through financial leverage. Turnspire strives to make each of its companies best-in-class in their respective industry niche, and then to grow the businesses through organic initiatives or strategic acquisitions.
