Leveraging our extensive track record in specialty distribution, GulfStar brings operating-level knowledge and unmatched insights to our clients serving a broad range of end markets. We understand and evaluate the entire supply chain to assess the ultimate drivers of company performance and commercial opportunity.
If in-stock guidance, on-time execution and extraordinary service is a must for your transaction – GulfStar delivers.
Sub-sectors include:
- Auto Parts Distribution
- Aviation Parts Distribution
- Building Products and Materials Distribution
- Express and Last-Mile Delivery
- Food Distribution
- Hoses and Fittings
- Industrial Products Distribution
- Logistics
- Pipes, Valves and Fittings
- Pump Distribution
- Refrigerated Distribution
- Specialty Chemical Distribution
- Steel Distribution
- Transportation Services
- Warehousing and Transloading
Related Transactions
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Texcel is a leading branded supplier of premium quality industrial and hydraulic hoses and fittings, fluid sealing products and related services. With over 40 years of commercial operations, Texcel has established a clear leadership position in the fluid conveyance market through significant, long-term investments in product development, platform infrastructure and exceptional customer service. Headquartered in Houston, Texcel has established a strong national footprint, serving top-tier independent distributors across the country out of facilities located in Texas, Illinois, Delaware, Alabama and Colorado.
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Founded in 1997 by David Rollen and headquartered in Coppell, Texas, Rock Materials is a wholesale distributor of natural and architectural cut stone, manufactured stone, cast stone and masonry supplies. Rock Materials also operates at a second location in Tomball, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Rock Materials is the largest provider of architectural stone within the state of Texas and the transaction marks a substantial expansion in this line of business for SRS. The Company’s senior management team will continue in their functions, leading this effort while retaining upside opportunity as shareholders in SRS post-closing.
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Mergers & Acquisitions
Cross-Border Transactions
Headquartered in Texas City, Texas, Farmers Copper is a leading metal supply company. It is a legacy business descended from Farmers Marine Copper, a company that was founded in Galveston, Texas in 1920 by Les and Sidney Farmer. Farmers Copper supplies copper, brass and bronze alloys to a long-standing customer base across aerospace, marine, defense, oil & gas and electrical market segments in North America. The Company distinguishes itself with its excellent service, custom processing capabilities and outstanding delivery performance. The Company will be integrated into the industry-leading service center network of Wieland Metal Services, a business unit of Wieland.
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Cross-Border Transactions
Based in Billings, Aspen Air is a leading manufacturer and distributor of bulk liquid industrial gases in Montana and the surrounding states. Aspen Air supports a diverse industrial and medical base of customers including those in the energy and chemicals sectors, hospitals, and the very important packaged gases and independent distributor network.
Business Services
Mergers & Acquisitions
Established in 2010, Boa Logistics is a service-focused freight management company, utilizing technology to stay ahead of the competition. Boa specializes in refrigerated LTL freight movements and consolidation nationwide. Additionally, Boa also operates a cold-storage facility to serve its customers (Flow Cold Storage). Boa focuses on mission-critical movements of perishable temperature-controlled freight for medium-sized companies, with destinations including big-box retail, grocery, and restaurant distribution. Additionally, Boa handles dry freight and drayage-related movements and consolidations for customers.
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Consumer Products & Services
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Belding, Michigan, Flat River is a value-added distributor of consumer products with full-service warehousing and fulfillment capabilities for the North American markets. The Company’s deep knowledge of the eCommerce retail ecosystem, vast product assortment and proven drop-ship capabilities provide both its suppliers and its eCommerce customers with a turn-key solution to drive sales through product identification, dimensional inventory management and industry-best fulfillment execution.
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Founded in 1999 and based in Houston, Texas, MSI Supply is a leading distributor of pipes, valves, fittings, gaskets and fasteners to industrial customers across the Gulf Coast. The Company primarily focuses on sourcing materials for emergency situations and ongoing routine maintenance. MSI Supply offers more than 50,000 SKUs and utilizes its proprietary bidding software, which enables it to quote immediately upon request, and delivery often occurs within hours.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Founded in 2005, PitStop is a leading distributor of heating oil, propane, kerosene and motor fuels serving retail and commercial customers throughout Southern Maine. The fastest growing portion of its fuel distribution business is its propane delivery segment, driven largely by the continued customer trend of converting from heating oil to propane. The Company delivers its services using its modern truck fleet and its network of bulk fuel terminals strategically-located throughout the Maine Lakes Region. The cold temperatures, high number of degree days and a lack of pipeline infrastructure make this one of the most attractive route-based heating oil and propane delivery markets in the country.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Founded in 1980, GB Tubulars is a leading distributor of Oil Country Tubular Goods and a provider of proprietary specialty connections. The Company’s key customers are major and large independent exploration and production companies and other tubular good distributors in the Gulf of Mexico. GBT’s tubular goods and proprietary specialty connections are used in all types of drilling operations with increasing use in U.S. land-based shale plays.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Based in Midland County, TX, Cactus Fuel is a leading provider of specialized fuel services to operators and drillers in remote locations in the Permian basin. Cactus Fuel was founded in 2012 by a management team with extensive oilfield service experience.
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
XL Parts is the largest direct-to-the-installer automotive parts supplier in the Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, and Baton Rouge metropolitan areas with over 67 stores. XL Parts stocks over 120,000 different part numbers, covering 175 product lines from multiple manufacturers, and is able to deliver orders to its installer customers in less than 45 minutes utilizing its differentiated distribution model. The company, founded by Ali Attayi in 2001, is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Founded in 2002, Arlington International Aviation Products, Inc. is a leading provider of supply chain management services to the global aerospace and defense industries. AIAP’s value-added services include inventory management of C-class aerospace parts, maintenance of supplier relationships, quality assurance, kitting, bin management and usage forecasting. The Company is based in Arlington, Texas.
Financial Advisory Services
Specialty Distribution
Advisory Services
Grocers Supply is a leading distributor of Hispanic grocery products in the country, focusing on Texas-grown and Texas-made merchandise including grocery, general merchandise and health care and beauty products.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Buy-Side Advisory
Thorpe Products Company is a leading fabricator and distributor of a comprehensive range of industrial, commercial, and mechanical insulation and related products to end-markets including the petrochemical, refining, utility and commercial construction industries. Founded in 1985, Thorpe Products has extensive experience working with customers on a wide array of maintenance and capital projects.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Buy-Side Advisory
PSS, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is one of the largest independent providers of industrial products and services to the domestic oil and gas transmission industry. PSS stocks and distributes one of the industry’s most comprehensive industrial and safety product offerings.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Buy-Side Advisory
Thorpe Products Company fabricates and distributes a comprehensive range of industrial insulation and related products to end-markets including the petrochemical, refining, utility and commercial construction industries. Thorpe Products has 10 branches located in Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Beaumont, Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas; Gonzalez, Louisiana; Lake Charles, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; St. Louis, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Memphis, Tennessee.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Pipeline Supply & Service Company is one of the largest independent domestic providers of industrial products and services to the domestic oil and gas transmission industry. Furthermore, PSS stocks and distributes one of the industry’s most comprehensive and largest industrial and safety product offerings.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Founded in 1940 and headquartered in Roberts, Illinois, Hicks Oils & Hicksgas, Incorporated (“Hicksgas”) is a family-owned supplier of propane and water conditioning systems, operating 31 service centers, 15 satellite storage facilities and a fleet of 40,000 propane tanks throughout Illinois and Indiana. In addition, Hicksgas has completed 25 retail propane acquisitions since the current management team assumed operational leadership in 1989.
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Specialty Distribution
Buy-Side Advisory
GulfStar represented Audax Group in its acquisition of Distribution International, Inc. (“DI”). Audax Group is a private equity firm with $4 billion under management that specializes in investments for middle market companies and invests in a wide range of industries and transactions.
Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Western is the leading wholesale distributor of acetylene and propylene in the United States. Western also sells other industrial gases, cylinders and valves and provides cylinder maintenance and testing services. Western is headquartered in Bellville, Texas and has additional locations across the United States in Pueblo, Colorado; Lubbock, Sealy and Texas City, Texas; Taft, Geismar and Slidell, Louisiana; Birmingham, Alabama; Henderson, North Carolina; Berwick, Pennsylvania and Tampa, Florida.
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Warren Alloy is a leading master distributor of stainless steel, alloy 20, nickel alloy, duplex, aluminum and chrome-moly pipe, fittings and flanges, collectively referred to as PVF products. The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas with distribution centers strategically located throughout the United States.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Beta is a worldwide supplier of flow control products to the energy, transmission and infrastructure industries. In addition, Beta is recognized in the energy industry for its project management capabilities. The Company is headquartered in Houston, Texas with offices in The Netherlands, Mexico, Indonesia and Singapore.
Tapick & Co.
Consumer Products & Services
Specialty Distribution
Buy-Side Advisory
Martin, founded in 1944, serves as a leading “center of the plate” food distribution business headquartered in Houston, Texas with three additional distribution locations in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, Texas. The Company supplies a wide variety of custom cut fresh meats, poultry, seafood and specialty foods primarily to restaurants, clubs and hotels. Since its inception, Martin has grown to become the largest independent “center of the plate” operation in Texas, serving over 2,700 customers across the state.
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
With operations in Houston, Plano and Tyler, Texas, B27 operates through two subsidiaries: Best Equipment Service & Sales, LLC doing business as Best PumpWorks (“BPW”) and Integrated Flow Solutions, LLC (“IFS”). BPW designs, manufactures, distributes and services industrial pumps, while IFS engineers construct customized modular liquid and gas handing systems. The Company, whose history dates to 1978, serves the oil and gas, power generation, air quality and chemical processing industries throughout the world.
Energy, Power & Infrastructure
Specialty Distribution
Mergers & Acquisitions
Talen’s Marine and Fuel (“Talen’s” or the “Company”) is the largest privately-owned provider of marine fuel delivery services to the Louisiana and east Texas Gulf Coast. Chief Executive Officer Raymond Talen founded the Company in 1970 in Lake Arthur, Louisiana as a single-location provider of fuel and lubricants to the marine towing industry. From this beginning with a single tug boat and barge, the Company has developed into an integrated provider of midstream, dockside and land-based services that include delivery of fuel, lube, potable water and deck supplies, and collection for disposal of waste oil, water and trash.
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Specialty Distribution
Buy-Side Advisory
Western International Gas & Cylinders, Inc. (“Western” or the “Company”) is a leading manufacturer and wholesale distributor of industrial gases in the United States. The Company’s revenues are principally derived from the sale of acetylene gas, which is manufactured, compressed into cylinders and distributed via trucks, bulk trailers and pipelines to major industrial clients and independent distributors. Western International also sells industrial gas cylinders and provides cylinder maintenance and testing services to its customers.
Consumer Products & Services
Mergers & Acquisitions
Financial Advisory Services
Industrial Services & Manufacturing
Specialty Distribution
Advisory Services
Friedman Industries, Incorporated manufactures, processes and distributes pipe and steel. The Group operates in two product and service groups: Coil products and Tubular products. The Coil product segment purchases hot-rolled steel coils and processes steel coils into flat sheet and plate steel. The Tubular product segment purchases, processes, manufactures and markets tubular products. The principal customers of the Group are steel distributors and customers fabricating steel products such as storage tanks, steel buildings, farm machinery and equipment and similar other products.
Financial Advisory Services
Specialty Distribution
Advisory Services
Aeriform is an independent distributor of specialty and industrial cylinder gases.