Q360 Group and Valedor Partners Acquire The Flexo Factor with Support from Align Collaborate

The Flexo Factor expands Q360’s pressroom consumables offering, as Q360 continues to seek acquisitions

DALLAS & CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Align Collaborate is pleased to announce that Q360 Group (“Q360”), an Align Collaborate portfolio company formed in partnership with Valedor Partners, has acquired The Flexo Factor. Based in Monroe, North Carolina, The Flexo Factor is a provider of flexographic cleaning supplies, pressroom equipment and on-site training & consulting.

The acquisition brings The Flexo Factor’s three decades of hands-on flexographic expertise to Q360’s full-service platform. Its specialized anilox and pressroom cleaning products expand Q360’s offering and deepen the recurring consumables relationship Q360 has with its installed base of customers, helping them maintain print quality, reduce downtime and get more from every press run.

“The Flexo Factor has spent 30 years solving one of the most persistent problems in the pressroom: keeping anilox rolls and plates clean so presses run at full productivity,” said Todd Sweeney, Chief Executive Officer of Q360 Group. “Steve and his team built a brand that converters trust, and we intend to build on it, not change it. This acquisition continues our strategy of partnering with founder-led businesses that share our commitment to the flexographic industry, and we welcome conversations with owners who are thinking about their next chapter.”

“Q360 shares our focus on the people running the press,” said Steven Wilkinson, Owner and President of The Flexo Factor. “Joining Q360 gives our customers access to parts, equipment and field service alongside the cleaning products and training they already count on.”

Michael Kornman, Partner at Align Collaborate, added, “We’re proud to support this next phase of The Flexo Factor and believe that Todd and the Q360 team will be strong stewards of the legacy Steven has built, providing the resources to grow while preserving the quality and service that The Flexo Factor’s customers and suppliers have come to expect.”

“The Flexo Factor is just the kind of business Q360 was built to acquire: a trusted brand, deep technical know-how, and a recurring consumables relationship with a loyal installed base,” said David Bloch, a director of Q360 and Operating Partner at Valedor Partners.

Q360 is actively seeking acquisitions of complementary businesses that supply consumables, short-cycle parts and other products & services to flexographic label and packaging printers, with strong customer relationships and opportunities to extend Q360’s geographic reach. Q360 is especially interested in owners seeking a succession solution that takes care of their employees and builds on what they have created, and it is committed to preserving the technical expertise, service and relationships customers rely on.

Vice President Bob Grebenc and Associate Andrew Chalhoub rounded out the investment team for Align Collaborate.

About Align Collaborate

Align Collaborate is an equity investor that exclusively invests in independent sponsor-led transactions, or alongside lower-middle market sponsors closing a transaction pre-fund or while in between funds. The team’s strategy is purpose-built to support the unique needs of independent sponsor investors that capitalize their investments on a deal-by-deal basis by moving quickly and providing value beyond capital. Align Collaborate is an affiliate of Align Capital Partners ("ACP"). ACP is a lower-middle market private equity firm, and, together with Align Collaborate, manages $3.2 billion in committed capital with investment teams in Cleveland and Dallas. For more information, visit aligncollaborate.com.

About Q360 Group

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, Q360 Group is a full-service flexographic printing solutions partner. Q360 supports printers and converters across four pillars—Consumables & Supplies, Parts, Equipment and Services—with a portfolio that spans genuine OEM and reengineered parts, pre-owned presses, an exclusive North American partnership with Rotocon USA, field service, rebuilds and training. For more information, visit www.q360group.com.

About The Flexo Factor

Founded in 1996 and based in Monroe, North Carolina, The Flexo Factor, now a Q360 Group company, supplies anilox and plate cleaning products, ultrasonic cleaning systems, doctor blades, anilox rolls, pressroom and converting equipment and on-site flexo training to narrow-web, mid-web, wide-web and corrugated printers. For more information, visit www.theflexofactor.com.