ICV Partners, a leading investment firm and capital partner to lower middle market companies, has completed the sale of its portfolio company Horizon Air Freight to GHK Capital Partners LP. ICV acquired Horizon in 2019 and supported the Company through a period of significant growth and strategic expansion.
Horizon Air Freight, founded in 1970, has established itself as a key player in the global maritime logistics industry, offering freight forwarding, customs clearance, last mile delivery services, and port call agency services to thousands of ships worldwide.
ICV invested in Horizon in 2019 in partnership with Steve Leondis, the company’s CEO and son of the founder, and several members of management who also invested alongside ICV. With ICV, Horizon made significant investments in its management team to help transition the company from a family led business, to a global logistics leader. The Company grew revenues approximately six-fold and more than tripled earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. ICV and Horizon’s management worked together to grow the Company’s capabilities, including advancements in technology and customer service, and to expand Horizon’s geographic reach from two locations to over 30 locations across North America, South America, Asia and Europe. During the partnership with ICV, Horizon evaluated several acquisitions and struck strategic partnerships with Delver Agents, Transmarine Navigation and Swift Marine which allowed the Company to thoughtfully grow its service offering in marine logistics and expand globally to form the Horizon Group.
Steve Leondis, CEO of Horizon stated, “Our partnership with ICV has been instrumental to our growth over the past few years. With their support and considerable resources, we have become a larger and more resilient business, and significantly expanded our global reach and our service offerings, making Horizon a key strategic partner for our maritime customers. We are well prepared for future growth thanks to the strong foundation we built with ICV.”
Kalpana Zeena Rao, Managing Director at ICV stated, “We are extremely proud of our partnership with Horizon and thrilled that many members of management were able to invest alongside us and share in the Company’s success. We saw a compelling opportunity to grow a niche maritime logistics platform, and Horizon is now positioned as a global leader in marine logistics. We believe the Company will continue to thrive and innovate in its next chapter.”
The successful realization of Horizon builds on ICV’s strong track record in the transportation & logistics sector of its business services industry vertical. Since inception, ICV has completed 15 platform investments and over 20 add-on acquisitions in business services.
Horizon was advised by Jefferies LLC and represented by DLA Piper LLP. GHK Capital Partners LP was advised by Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and represented by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
About ICV Partners
Founded in 1999, ICV Partners is an experienced private equity firm that supports management of lower middle market companies to facilitate transformational growth. The principals of ICV have worked together for many years and crafted a strong track record of helping companies improve performance over the long term and across a variety of industries. ICV seeks to make control investments in strong businesses with $25 million to $250 million in revenue. ICV celebrated its 25th year anniversary recently. Additional information is available at www.icvpartners.com.
About Horizon Group
Founded in 1970, Horizon is a leading global provider of specialized international freight forwarding focused on time-critical marine spare parts logistics. Operating out of over 30 locations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, Horizon offers services spanning multimodal logistics for marine spares, supplies, and equipment and port agency solutions. Over its more than five-decade history, Horizon has established a strong reputation for delivering best-in-class customer service, creating a brand name known for consistent quality. To learn more about Horizon, please visit www.haf.com.
