Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • September 18, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 11 Reporter's Notebook Gregory Seay | gseay@HartfordBusiness.com Real Estate, Economic Development/Construction, Banking & Finance and Manufacturing BANKING & FINANCE Bank branch activity The state Department of Banking has re- ceived several requests for new bank branch openings and closings in Greater Hartford as well as other activity. They include: • United Bank plans to open a loan pro- duction office in downtown Hartford in its new branch at 225 Asylum St. • The Simsbury Bank & Trust Company wants to close a loan production office in Glastonbury, at 2389 Main St. • Massachusetts' Berkshire Bank is seeking approval to establish a de novo branch at 763 Farmington Ave., in Farmington. • UBS Bank USA, a Utah-chartered industrial bank, received approval to establish a loan production office at One State Street in Hartford. • Donald J. Vaccaro, founder of South Windsor ticket reseller TicketNetwork, withdrew his bid to acquire up to 49.9 percent of the voting securities of Prime Bank, a Connecticut bank and trust company headquartered in Orange. DEAL WATCH Ohio's Makino Inc. expanding in New Britain Ohio manufacturer Makino Inc. is expanding its Connecticut industrial footprint in the wake of its recent purchase of New Britain manufacturer Global EDM, brokers say. Makino leased about 39,280 square feet at 255 Myrtle St., space that will allow it to nearly double its New Britain employment, according to Rocky Hill broker O,R&L Commercial. Based in Mason, Ohio, Makino is the exclusive U.S./Canada importer of the Excetek line of electrical discharge machining wire and sinker machines to the aerospace, medical, power-generation and die/mold and general machining sectors. Makino also is exclusive domestic distributor of Ocean EDM Drills. Global also was a leading EDM distributor. $200K Hamden sale A two-story, 2,536-square-foot Hamden office building sold recently for $200,000, brokers say. Jacqueline Biller acquired the free-standing building on a half-acre lot at 2764 Whitney Ave. from sellers Sid and Harriett Miller, according to sole broker Press Cuozzo Realtors. Press Cuozzo also is the property's lease broker. The property is near Mount Carmel, with access to I-91 and Wilbur Cross Parkway. Hartford area leaseups Simsbury commercial broker Litsky Associates recently brokered a series of Hartford area leases. Litsky is sole broker unless otherwise noted. In Bloomfield, Nature's Grocer leased 4,500 square feet at 777 Park Ave. from landlord Levy Associates. The store is set to open this fall. At 22 Mountain Ave., Nutmeg Properties leased 1,161 square feet at 22 Mountain Ave. from landlord OSJ of Bloomfield LLC. In Hartford, Kathy's Urgent Care leased 6,653 square feet at 750 Main St. downtown, in space that previously was a CVS store. 750 Main L.P. is landlord. In Cheshire, Consignment Originals leased 7,000 square feet at Maplecroft Plaza, 155 Highland Ave. Litsky Associates represented the tenant. New England Retail Properties represented landlord Maplecroft Plaza LLC. In Vernon, Spark Virtual Reality leased 2,057 square feet; Hair Express signed for 2,178 square feet at the Shops at Eastview, 425 Talcottville Road. Spark was represented by Re/ Max Destination. Litsky Associates was sole broker in the Hair Express lease, and represented landlord, the Shops at Eastview LLC. In Manchester, Tuscan Kitchen LLC, doing business as Trattoria Toscana, has leased 7,000 square feet at 706 Hartford Road. Granato Realty represented the tenant. Litsky Associates represented landlord 697 Hartford Road Associates LLC. Next door, at 690 Hartford Road, Ashlee Racow, doing business as State Farm Insurance, leased 1,800 square feet. The landlord is 697 Hartford Road Associates LLC. MANUFACTURING StanChem acquisition drew $16M price tag B erlin polymers and coatings maker StanChem made news recently when it announced it was be- ing purchased by a Boston equity investment fund run by people formerly with ties to Connecticut manufacturing. But the company never disclosed a pur- chase price. A recent Form D filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, however, shows StanChem drew an ap- proximately $16 million buyout. James Ward, a principal in StanChem's new owner, Artemis Capital Partners, said StanChem is the latest investment — pos- sibly the first of more in Con- necticut — among three funds Artemis oversees for buying manufacturers that have engi- neered and own their propri- etary products and technologies. Ward declined to confirm the acquisition price tag, citing privacy concerns. However, Ward confirmed StanChem is one of many potential acquisition targets in its crosshairs as it seeks other acquisitions. "New England is rich with the types of companies we invest in,'' Ward said. In StanChem's case, the 49-year-old com- pany housed at 401 East St. on the town's east side, supplies emulsion polymers, adhe- sives and specialty coatings for applications that include paints, paper and packaging, building products and textiles. The firm also produces and markets the Albi line of flame retardant products. Its products aren't exactly household names; they are sold mostly to makers of paints, coatings and adhesives, who affix their brands/logos to the finished products, and to painting contractors who coat surfaces according to architects' specifications, StanChem of- ficials said. Essentially, StanChem and Artemis' other investments oc- cupy the "business-to-business,'' or B2B, product sales channel. In that space, industrial makers of products that rely on chemi- cals and other solid and liquid ingredients to fashion their products are the customers, Ward said. "This is a company that fills all the boxes for Artemis,'' he said. Paul Stenson, an Irish-born chemist who oversees market- ing and product development, among other leadership chores at StanChem, says timing is right for its water-based prod- ucts. Until the '60s, most paints and coatings contained flammable petro- leum solvents. "The No. 1 reason is safety,'' Stenson said. "You can't set fire to a can of water-based paint." Environmental concerns make water-based paints/coatings more desirable than solvent-based options, he said. But even more than that, StanChem ap- plies ongoing research and development to improve its products' performance, Stenson said. An Albi coating that morphs into a protective foam when exposed to high heat was applied to steel beams in downtown Hartford's Dunkin' Donuts Park. "That's basically how we've competed against the big guys,'' he said. StanChem's operations and staff will stay in Berlin, and over time, will likely benefit from Artemis' investment in expanding production, products and workers, Ward said. He declined to elaborate. Some of Artemis' four-member team of principals are familiar names and faces in Connecticut's and New England's manufac- turing sector. Take, for instance, Michael Foley, who formerly was CEO of Reflexite, a Simsbury maker of reflective films and adhesives now part of Germany's Orafol Group. Three other former Reflexite executives round out Artemis' staffing. Artemis Capital Partners' Investment Portfolio StanChem Inc., Berlin, Conn. Adcole Corp., Marlborough, Mass. Ohio Tool Works, Ashland, Ohio Janis Research Company, Woburn, Mass. KCB Solutions, Shirley, Mass. Fiberoptic Components, Sterling, Mass. Source: Artemis Capital Partners Michael Foley, Chairman, Artemis Capital Partners Paul Stenson, Vice President, StanChem 255 Myrtle St., New Britain. 2764 Whitney Ave., Hamden. Spark Virtual Reality, 425 Talcottville Road, Vernon. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED Berkshire Bank is planning to open a new Branch in Farmington. HBJ PHOTO | GREG BORDONARO

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