New Mountain Capital Sells Careismatic Brands to Partners Group

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New Mountain Capital, LLC (“New Mountain”), a growth-oriented investment firm that currently manages over $30 billion in assets, today announced that it has sold Careismatic Brands, Inc. (“CBI” or “the Company”) to Partners Group, a global private markets investment manager acting on behalf of its clients. New Mountain acquired majority control of CBI in June 2016. CBI is a leading global healthcare and wellness platform delivering innovative products and solutions to millions of consumers worldwide.

“Since partnering with New Mountain four years ago, I have been consistently impressed by their collaborative approach to business building,” said Mike Singer, CEO of CBI and one of CBI’s founders. “We have enjoyed working with the New Mountain team and thank them for helping us to significantly expand and solidify our leading industry position. We look forward to building upon this momentum with Partners Group.”

Founded in 1995, CBI is a leading designer, marketer, and distributor of medical apparel, footwear, and accessories. CBI leverages its sophisticated global supply chain to serve a diversified base of customers in more than 70 countries. The Company has a deep portfolio of 15 iconic and emerging brands, including Cherokee Uniforms and Dickies Medical, creating an extensive offering across market segments with strong consumer recognition. In addition to innovative medical apparel, CBI offers school uniforms, corporate identity solutions, adaptive clothing by Silverts, medical instruments and accessories, and wellness products such as Certainty SmartBoost antimicrobial laundry additive.

Since New Mountain’s investment, CBI has grown significantly, strengthening its leading position in the domestic medical apparel market while also expanding its presence internationally, building upon its retail partnerships, further developing its e-commerce and digital capabilities, and entering new product categories. The Company has also made substantial investments in technology and analytics capabilities to support continued growth well into the future.

A core element of CBI’s mission is to support and elevate healthcare workers, and the Company has been focused on finding ways to give back to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, CBI donated $1 million in Cherokee and Dickies scrubs to hospitals for front-line workers and launched its “19 Days of Gratitude” global campaign alongside the DAISY foundation to support nurses. The Company has also donated $500,000 of its Classroom-branded school uniforms to support families during this difficult time.

“Our partnership with CBI is an excellent example of the business building that New Mountain pursues with its partners,” said Lars Johansson, Managing Director at New Mountain. “Over the last four years we have built on CBI’s core strengths by investing in infrastructure, strengthening CBI’s omnichannel capabilities, and executing several acquisitions which expand the Company’s capabilities, markets and growth potential.”

“It has been a pleasure to work with Mike and the rest of the CBI team,” added Mat Lori, Senior Advisor at New Mountain. “CBI is a unique platform with iconic brands that is admired by its customers due to its service, innovation, integrity, and breadth of offerings. We thank CBI’s leadership team and its employees for their collaboration and efforts during our ownership.”

Baird, Jefferies LLC, and UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisors to CBI and New Mountain. CBI and New Mountain Capital received legal counsel from Kirkland & Ellis LLP. An arranger group led by UBS Investment Bank is providing the financing for the acquisition.

About New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth, rather than debt, as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, public equity, and credit funds with over $30 billion in assets under management. New Mountain seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies. For more information on New Mountain Capital, please visit www.newmountaincapital.com.

About Careismatic Brands

Careismatic Brands, Inc. (formerly Strategic Partners, Inc.) is the global leader in medical apparel with a distribution footprint in more than 70 countries, and a deep portfolio of top-selling medical apparel, footwear and accessories brands such as Cherokee Uniforms, Dickies Medical, heartsoul, Infinity by Cherokee, Scrubstar, Tooniforms and Anywear. Careismatic Brands’ portfolio of deeply trusted brands delivers best-in-class products and unparalleled service to distribution partners and consumers. For more information on Careismatic Brands, please visit www.careismatic.com.