Transaction marks Montage Partners’ 20th investment to date
Montage Partners, a people-first private equity firm headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, is pleased to announce its investment in Military Fasteners, a B2B eCommerce distributor of mil-spec fasteners primarily to customers in the aerospace and defense industry. Alongside incoming CEO David Ficadenti, Montage Partners is providing capital to further accelerate the Company’s expansion.
Founded in 2016, Military Fasteners is a disrupter in the aerospace and defense fastener industry as a first mover in eCommerce sales, which resonates with a growing number of procurement professionals in the millennial and Gen Z cohorts who are digitally native and prefer making online purchases. A reputation for having one of the largest and most diverse fastener part selections readily available for rapid online procurement and fulfilment coupled with exceptional customer service has led to the Company organically expanding its revenue by nearly 5x since 2019.
“Military Fasteners plays a critical role in the aerospace and defense supply chain given the importance of minimizing fleet downtime during maintenance, repair, and overhaul operations,” said Rob Wolfman, co-Managing Partner of Montage Partners. “Underpinning the Company’s rapid growth and success has been a laser focus on exceeding customer expectations with every order placed, day-in and day-out. We have tremendous respect for what’s been built to date and look forward to driving further innovation and customer success with David at the helm.”
Ficadenti, who has spent the majority of his career in the aerospace and defense industry, was most recently Vice President, Corporate Development and Licensing at Honeywell. Ficadenti held full P&L responsibility for Honeywell’s Strategic Licensing business and presided over legacy product line monetization and channel partner repair aftermarket. In that role Ficadenti led a 30-person team and achieved record-setting growth for the business.
“I’m thrilled to be partnering with Montage Partners to lead Military Fasteners into the next phase of growth,” stated Ficadenti. “Montage’s people-first philosophy aligns with my leadership style and values, and we both take a long-term approach to investing. Military Fasteners has a truly novel business model in the aerospace and defense industry, and I’m excited to work with Director of Operations, Rebekah Disser, and the rest of the team to further accelerate the Company’s success.”
“David is a perfect fit for Military Fasteners as it hits an inflection point of growth,” added Chris Norwood, Vice President at Montage Partners. “This is the type of win-win-win scenario we strive to achieve with extraordinary leaders through our Successor President ProgramTM. David’s industry experience and successful track record, along with Rebekah’s operational focus and years of experience in the business, provide a strong foundation for the Company’s next chapter.”
Future plans include investments in people, marketing, and business development to further expand the company’s market share, as well as opening a distribution facility in Phoenix, AZ which will further reduce ship times and allow the Company to better serve customers in major aerospace and defense hubs such as Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, and Wichita. Disser will remain in her role as Director of Operations and work with Ficadenti to implement these and other strategic initiatives.
“I’m excited to help lead Military Fasteners into our next chapter with David and Montage Partners,” shared Disser. “We’ve already built one of the largest and most diverse online fastener catalogs and pride ourselves on fulfilling orders faster than anyone else in the industry. With David’s expertise and Montage Partners’ track record of successfully growing businesses, I look forward to further expanding our offerings and capabilities.”
The transaction closed on August 26, 2024. Osborn Maledon, P.A. provided legal counsel to Montage Partners.
About Montage Partners
Founded in 2004, with offices in Scottsdale, Arizona and Salt Lake City, Utah, Montage Partners is a people-first private equity firm dedicated to helping established businesses reach transformative growth. Montage Partners invests in companies headquartered in the U.S. or Canada with $1.5 million to $7 million in EBITDA in the technology and professional services, healthcare, industrial products and services, and consumer sectors. Above all other investment criteria, Montage Partners invests in exceptional people.
