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Acon Investments details True Religion appeal; Kinderhook Industries in 31st light manufacturing platform deal

Good morning dealmakers, it’s Obey Martin Manayiti with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom.

Old retail brands have faced many challenges in retaining their former glory in the fashion market. True Religion is one of them. We open with a deep dive intowhat opportunities Acon Investments seesfor the denim brand in the future. Stay tuned to what Suma Kulkarni, a managing partner at Acon, says about the company’s turnaround strategy.

Next, we have a couple of fresh deals to look at. First up, Kinderhook Industries has made its 31st light manufacturing/automotive platform investment since inception. The firm has acquired a Norwalk, Connecticut-based parent company of various brands of specialty construction anchors, fasteners, and other building products. We have details below about the target.

Secondly, JMI Equity has made a growth investment in SimpliGov, a Sacramento, California-based no-code workflow automation platform for government organizations. PE Hub has kept tabs on this sector, and I will highlight factors driving growth in this market.

Good but misunderstood

Like all older retail apparel brands, True Religion has faced many challenges, including the covid pandemic and fundamental changes in consumer behavior. And like some others, it’s faced bankruptcy – twice (in 2017 and again in 2020), writes my colleague Iris Dorbian.

Nevertheless, Washington DC based retail apparel investor, Acon Investments, sees lots of opportunities for the brand in the future.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn more about what Suma Kulkarni, Acon’s managing partner, said about True Religion.

Anchored in

Kinderhook Industries has acquired US Anchors, a Norwalk, Connecticut-based parent company of various brands of specialty construction anchors, fasteners, and other building products. The deal is Kinderhook’s 31st light manufacturing/automotive platform investment since inception.

Premium subscribers to the Wire have access to more on this deal.

Simpler processes

JMI Equity has made a growth investment in SimpliGov, a Sacramento, California-based no-code workflow automation platform for government organizations.

Premium subscribers to the Wire have more on this deal.

PE Hub has been covering govtech for some time, and we rounded up seven deals here.

That’s it for me today. As always, I’d love to hear from you at [email protected]

Nina Lindholm will bring you tomorrow’s Europe Wire, while Rafael Canton will bring you the US edition.

Cheers,

Obey

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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Deals

They said it

“Women shop more and buy more items. That’s another thing we got excited about. There are so many levers to pull to grow this business and that got us excited.”

— Suma Kulkarni, managing partner at Acon Investments regarding the True Religion investment.

Today's letter was prepared by Obey Martin Manayiti

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