In a deal described by rental experts as the biggest yet in the history of special events, Los Angeles-based Classic Party Rentals quietly changed hands last month, moving from Greenwich, Conn.-based Dubin Clark & Co. to Quad-C Management, a private equity firm based in Charlottesville, Va. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The sale means "We are better funded than we were before," Classic president John Campanelli tells Special Events Magazine. "Our successful growth means we outgrew our last investor base. We are with folks with more resources, and will keep going." He adds that there will be no change in management or sales teams; they are "100 percent the same," he says.
Dubin Clark acquired Classic in mid-2003, when Classic pulled in roughly $45 million among its half-dozen outlets. Thanks to an aggressive push to acquire competitors, Classic now oversees 18 locations ranging from California to the Southeast and more than $185 million in revenue.
Classic will keep up its pace of acquisition, Campanelli says: "It's still our expectation to make three or four acquisitions per year."
PARTY PARTNERSHIP
In more big news from big event rental companies, Teterboro, N.J.-based Party Rental Ltd. and Stamford, Conn.-based Stamford Tent and Party Rental announced last week that they have formed a strategic alliance whereby Party Rental Ltd. will provide party supplies and Stamford will provide tenting to high-end clients. As part of the arrangement, Party Rental Ltd. acquired the party rental supply and equipment division of Stamford Tent; terms were not disclosed. Stamford also auctioned chairs, linen and tabletop items, and changed its name to Stamford Tent and Event Services.
"This alliance ensures that our customers get the best of the both worlds," Stamford Tent president Stephen Frost said in a statement, "the leader in party supplies and equipment and the leader in tenting services. It also provides both companies with a robust pipeline of new business opportunities." The companies had worked together on an informal basis before this new agreement.
Party Rental Ltd. moved to a new, 240,000-square-foot warehouse/showroom in Teterboro last fall. In April, the company relocated its Manhattan showroom to an airy 3,500-square-foot space complete with kitchen.
