MSD Acquires Accel Group Companies

[Mike Delahanty]

Has anyone kept track of how man times Accel, Mr.Gasket and the others have been the subject of these type of "deals". MSD has some pretty sharp guys at the top and have an aggressive product expansion plan. Should be interesting.


Z Capital Partners Portfolio Company MSDP Group Acquires ACCEL Performance Group


Acquisition of Prominent Automotive Performance Parts Manufacturer to Accelerate Growth at MSDP


January 05, 2015 01:08 PM Eastern Standard Time


EL PASO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MSDP Group LLC (“MSDP” or the “Company”), a global leader in vehicle aftermarket performance ignition and tuning technology, today announced that the Company has acquired ACCEL Performance Group (“ACCEL”), a prominent performance aftermarket parts manufacturer, with brands including ACCEL, Mr. Gasket, Mallory Ignition, Lakewood, QuickTime and Hays brands. http://accelnation.com/


“ACCEL is a natural fit for MSDP and a valuable addition to the Company’s product portfolio”

“The acquisition of ACCEL significantly enhances our position in ignition technology and allows MSDP to expand our product portfolio aimed squarely at diehard racing and street performance enthusiasts,” said Rick Ruebusch, Chief Executive Officer of MSDP. “ACCEL complements our existing brands, providing us with both increased capability and an unmatched footprint in the aftermarket platform. With this complementary acquisition and ACCEL’s impressive portfolio of brands, MSDP has an even greater ability to serve our customers with new, innovative product offerings and a higher level of personal service.”

“The automotive aftermarket is a highly dynamic space with consumers that are deeply passionate about performance, reliability, and heritage as well as the challenges of next-generation vehicles and government regulations,” continued Mr. Ruebusch. “Adding ACCEL to the MSDP family gives us the bandwidth and brands to ensure that we continue delivering value to our customers and stakeholders.”

“ACCEL is a natural fit for MSDP and a valuable addition to the Company’s product portfolio,” said James Zenni, Chairman of MSDP and Chief Executive Officer of Z Capital Partners, L.L.C. (“Z Capital”). “Since making our investment in December 2013, MSDP has experienced significant growth, as well as enhanced its product innovation, brand marketing and distribution strategies. We look forward to the Company’s continued success with the addition of ACCEL and its impressive collection of brands.”

MSDP is a portfolio company of Z Capital.

About MSDP Group LLC

MSDP, headquartered in El Paso, Texas, operates in the street enthusiast, professional racer and powersports markets, where they maintain industry-leading market share positions across all of their product categories under the MSD®, Racepak®, Superchips® and Edge® brands. http://www.msdperformance.com/

About ACCEL Performance Group

ACCEL specializes in performance ignition coils, CD boxes, spark plugs, wires, fuel injectors, filters and pumps. Mr. Gasket is a trusted name, synonymous with engine sealing products and appearance accessories. Lakewood and QuickTime manufacture the world’s best and most complete line of bell housings and suspension products. Hays is a legendary clutch, flywheel and flexplate brand for both street cars and race applications. Mallory Ignition manufactures ignition products for American muscle cars and street rods.

About Z Capital Partners

Z Capital Partners, L.L.C. is a leading private equity firm with approximately $1.9 billion of regulatory assets under management and with offices in Lake Forest, IL and New York, NY. Z Capital pursues a value-oriented approach in private equity that includes making control investments in companies that may require growth capital, balance sheet and or operational improvements.

Z Capital portfolio companies currently have aggregate worldwide annual revenues of approximately $1.5 billion, sell products in over 30 countries, and have in excess of 190,000 associates directly and through joint ventures.

Z Capital’s investors include prominent global sovereign wealth funds, endowments, pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, family offices, wealth management firms and other financial institutions in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

[RACER1530]

And they were in chapter 11 in 2013

[Adger Smith]

Z Capital Partners, L.L.C. is in the business of getting good companies out of Chapter 11. Wonder if they want some new old stock Accel parts.??

[Bobby DiDomenico]

It has to be tough for these companies as many street vehicles never get "updated" with their products. Had a 1976 Cutlass and when the GM coil in cap went bad I purchased Accel cap, rotor, wires and never had an issue after that.
If you can go 11's with a stock 4 cylinder Mustang as another post said, that's plenty fast for commuting in todays endless bumper to bumper traffic right?

[boxmotorsports]

Hey Mike, I know this is off topic, but how are you making out with scheduling Stock / super stock races at Milan? We enjoyed the races there last year .
Thanks
D Box

[SSGT Mustang]

After my experience with Accel this summer when buying an almost $900 data logger, I can't imagine that any other company could do a worse job of product quality assurance or most importantly customer support.

Two times they sent me incomplete systems, and the customer "support" people gave me and the retailer a hassle about returning them. One "support" person basically told me that it's "normal" to get incomplete systems because they employ so many people and do so much business. He didn't seem to care one bit, and wouldn't even look into the situation and try to fix it.

All I can say is never again.

[ss wannabee]

Anybody know how long Accel's been around? I'm gonna say since late 1960's
and was created by the Echlin Co. How's my memory?

[Bob Don]

This is a history of Echlin/Accel. It says Accel was started in the 70s but doesn't give a specific date.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/compa...n-inc-history/

In the mid 70s, I was manager of a small speed shop in greater Boston area (Speed Shack). One of our distributors (Brian Peavey of PV Speed) sponsored an outing for us and a number of other retailers. We toured Moroso and Echlin/Accel and Echlin even sprung for a nice luncheon.

[Jack Parris]

My memory may be fading with age but I seem to remember that MSD was a spin off of ACCEL many years ago. Looking at the Echlin history, Automotive Controls Corp was a principal subsidiary of Echlin. Automotive Controls Corp is the name on my MSD box.

Sounds like it has gone full circle.

Or maybe not, just looked at it again and it is Autotronics Controls Corp. so disregard this post.

[Greenlight]

I don't think MSD was ever associated with Accel or Echlin.

MSD, actually "Autotronic Controls Corporation", was originally an Aerospace contract company. They were working with General Dynamics to develop a lean burn internal combustion engine (in the range of 22:1 A/F ratio). One major problem was that the mixture was too lean to ignite. During the course of development the engineers there came up with a multiple spark capacitive discharge ignition system, which continued to spark for 20 or so degrees of crank rotation. This "multiple continuous spark" was enough to ignite the lean mixture.

They decided to market it to the high performance auto industry and the rest is history.