NEED TO SELL?

Modular Space Corp. is a Berwyn, Pa.-based company that provides mobile office and modular space services. That the company has been in Calera Capital’s portfolio since 2000, according to Capital IQ, suggests it may be time to change owners.

ABS Capital Partners, another private equity firm, first invested in the company in 1998 and continues to hold a small position, according to Phil Clough, a managing general partner with ABS Capital.

Modular Space Corp., which does business as ModSpace, provides office trailers, storage containers and other modular complexes for businesses, government entities and other sources. Speed is one of its strengths. In 2008, a provider of renal dialysis services wanted to expand in a growing region around LaGrange, Ky. Since it knew Kentucky weather could complicate construction, it commissioned a division of Modular Space to construct facilities in about 120 days, according to Building Design & Construction. 

Back in 1998, Baltimore-based ABS Capital joined a firm called Canterbury Capital Partners to invest $15 million in the company, then called Resun Leasing, according to Capital IQ. In 2000, The Fremont Group—now known as Calera Capital—bought a majority interest in the company.

In 2005, the company announced that it had raised more funding from “existing investors” ABS Capital and Calera Capital, according to Capital IQ. The company intended to use the proceeds to support its growth plan over the next three to five years, which included the expansion of its lease portfolio and related service offerings.

In April 2007, Resun Leasing bought Modular Space from General Electric Capital Corp.’s Modular Space business for an undisclosed amount, upon which the company was re-named Modular Space Corp.

The company appears to do a decent amount of business via government contracts. In April 2010, for example, it was negotiating with the General Services Administration to build office space in Philadelphia, according to Targeted News Service. In October of that year, it won a contract with the U.S. Air Force for the lease of re-locatable facilities, according to the same source.

In 2011, the company trumpeted the release of “blast resistant modules,” intended to provide more job site safety in the petrochemical, mining and power industries, according to Manufacturing Close-Up.

Executives at Calera Capital did not return requests seeking comment.

Judging by the age of this investment and the funds from which Calera Capital invested, it’s wouldn’t be surprising if the owners would want to exit this company. According to Capital IQ, Calera Capital’s initial investment in 2000 came out of its second fund, a $605 million 1997 vintage fund, and its second investment, in 2005, came out of its third fund, a $920 million vintage 2001 fund.