Lincolnshire Signs Up Two, Forms One –

Lincolnshire Management last month closed two transactions in the sign and display industry, acquiring Fallon Luminous Products and Visual Products Corp., and has grouped them into one company called Fallon Visual Products.

Fallon Luminous Products manufactures shippable neon lighting products for the advertising, retail and decorative markets. Visual Products manufactures exterior and interior signs that are used for brand identification of retail outlets, including Sam’s Club, Carl’s Jr./Hardees and Jiffy Lube.

Jeff Muti, a managing director at New York-based Lincolnshire, declined to provide terms of the transactions. However, according to the firm, the companies generated approximately $60 million in combined revenue for 1999.

Lincolnshire has been involved in the sign and display industry since 1997 when, through its first fund, the firm acquired Gordon Sign Co. Lincolnshire completed the add-on acquisition of Signage in 1999, and sold the entity to its second fund this year, placing it under the Fallon Visual Products umbrella.

Lincolnshire plans to continue to build its sign and display portfolio based on products, geography and customer base of potential acquisition targets, Muti said.

“This is an exciting market right now because it is a fragmented one,” he said. “Customer base and demands are changing, and that suggests a company larger in size that also offers a full spectrum of products, will do better.”

The two separate product lines of the newly acquired companies attracted Lincolnshire, he added.

“We are focused on realizing significant cross-selling opportunities,” Muti said.

Lincolnshire currently is in the process of raising its second fund, which sports a $400 million target.