Dubin Clark Completes Sale of Event Services Platform Curated Events to MRE Partners

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dubin Clark, a private equity firm focused on building niche market leaders in the lower middle market, announced today that it has sold portfolio company Curated Events (“CE” or the “Company”) to MRE Partners.

CE is a leading special event service company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Company offers a wide variety of event products and services, including tenting, linens, fine china, flatware, custom flooring, luxury furnishings, and tables and chairs. CE’s unique value proposition caters to premier events and supports venues, event planners, and consumers throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic region and beyond.

Dubin Clark launched the Curated Events platform in February 2017 and subsequently led the acquisition of eight add-ons to build scale, service offerings, and geographic reach. In addition, Dubin Clark invested in the platform’s team, operations, and systems to drive growth and regional market leadership.

Al Dyess, CEO of CE, commented, “I’m very proud of our team at CE, we were able to achieve a market leading position in the event services industry, despite strong headwinds during the pandemic. In partnership with Dubin Clark, we were able to navigate an uncertain environment and transform the business into the premier provider throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast region. Dubin Clark was focused on setting us up for the future with the best new partner for the business. We are very excited to be working with MRE Partners to continue our growth and further success.”

Brent Paris, Managing Partner at Dubin Clark, said, “We could not be prouder of the outcome at CE. During our partnership, we were able to integrate eight add-on acquisitions, drive market leadership, and position the Company for significant growth while navigating through the pandemic. We would like to thank Al Dyess and the entire team for their leadership and contribution to a great result.”

TD Cowen, a full-service independent investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Curated Events and Dubin Clark.

About Dubin Clark

Dubin Clark is a private equity firm with offices in Jacksonville Beach, FL, Boston, MA and Miami, FL. The Dubin Clark team is led by experienced private equity professionals who bring decades of success in lower middle market investing. Dubin Clark targets lead or control investments in branded niche manufacturing and specialty services companies with at least $10 million in sales. The firm’s mission is to create value by helping companies grow through a coordinated approach that includes providing capital to support internal growth, completing complementary add-on acquisitions to build market position, and helping to develop new strategies for the future while protecting the independence, culture and values that made the company successful. For additional information, visit www.dubinclark.com or LinkedIn.

About Curated Events

Since 1952, CE has provided a premier selection of event services and products. CE serves the broader Mid-Atlantic region, servicing customers from Maryland to South Carolina. For more information, visit www.curatedevents.com.

About MRE Partners

Based in Annapolis, MD, MRE Partners (“MRE”) is the family office of David Williams focused on private company investing and development. David Williams is the former owner and CEO of Merkle, the global leader in tech-enabled marketing services. David grew revenue from <$10M to $1B+ over 32 years as CEO.

MRE Partners’ primary mission is to be the partner of choice for mid-market privately held businesses that seek a partner to help support continued growth in large, fragmented industries over long periods of time.

MRE’s key differentiating factors include:

• Multi-generational investor with a long-term investment horizon;
• Operators who love growing businesses;
• Invest own capital but also invest with other like-minded LP’s;
• Active investors with a point of view on growth and value creation;
• Proven growth company playbook that was developed over more than 25 years; and
• Understand that true partnerships are based on a shared vision, trust and mutual respect.

For additional information, visit https://mre-capital.com/private-equity