Key Takeaways
- • Bertram Capital has acquired Motion & Control Enterprises (MCE), a distributor of pumps, valves, hydraulic and pneumatic components and factory automation equipment, from Frontenac, ending Frontenac's investment that began in 2018.
- • MCE completed and integrated 27 acquisitions under Frontenac, including MJ Systems in August 2026, and grew EBITDA more than fifteenfold after the August 2023 continuation vehicle led by Churchill Asset Management and 50 South Capital.
- • MCE operates from 50 U.S. locations with more than 700 employees, serves more than 25,000 customers, and sources from about 850 supplier partners across three segments.
- • Mr. Hale remains CEO, and the existing leadership team will retain a meaningful investment in the company under Bertram ownership.
- • Solomon Partners advised MCE, BMO Capital Markets advised Bertram, and Ares and Antares provided debt financing; the transaction was not disclosed with a purchase price in the source material.
Summary
Bertram Capital has acquired Motion & Control Enterprises (MCE), a Zelienople, Pennsylvania-based distributor of pumps, valves, hydraulic and pneumatic components and factory automation equipment, from Frontenac. The sale ends Frontenac's investment in MCE, which began in 2018 when Frontenac formed the company through its acquisition of RitterTech in partnership with CEO Charley Hale, an executive from Frontenac's CEO1ST program. Frontenac used MCE as a platform for acquisitions, completing 27 add-ons that were integrated into the business. In August 2023, Frontenac moved MCE into a single-asset continuation vehicle, an oversubscribed secondary transaction led by Churchill Asset Management and 50 South Capital, to support further growth. The source material does not disclose the purchase price.
MCE sells, installs and repairs equipment that moves and controls liquids, gases and machinery in industrial plants. Its fluid power business supplies hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders, hoses, fittings and pumps, including through ParkerStore locations, while its flow control business supplies valves, actuators and instruments and is an authorized ABB instrumentation distributor. The company also sells rotating equipment, automation products and filtration systems, and serves original equipment manufacturers and plant operators in water and wastewater, chemicals, high-purity manufacturing and, more recently, data centers. According to the publisher summary, MCE has more than 700 employees, serves more than 25,000 customers from 50 U.S. locations, and offers products from about 850 supplier partners across its Motion Systems, Flow Control, and Rotating Equipment & Controls segments. The company traces its roots to Ritter Engineering Company, founded in Pittsburgh in 1951.
According to the source, Frontenac's ownership included add-ons such as Diversified Air Systems, Swanson Flow, Instrument Associates, Lone Star, Quest Engineering, Nightwine Valves & Actuation, Precision Pump & Valve, Power & Pump and Industrial Control Services, with MJ Systems, a supplier of chemical injection pump systems, added in August 2026. Frontenac said MCE's EBITDA grew more than fifteenfold during its ownership. Frontenac managing partner Ron Kuehl credited a focused value creation plan developed with Mr. Hale that expanded distribution capabilities and strengthened the company's foundation.
Bertram managing partner Kevin Yamashita said MCE has built a differentiated national platform and that Bertram plans to scale the business both organically and through acquisitions. Partner Chris Brown said MCE "checks every box" as an investment. Mr. Hale will continue as CEO, and the existing leadership team will remain in place and retain a meaningful investment. The source characterizes industrial distribution of fluid power and flow control equipment as large and fragmented, citing Mordor Intelligence estimates of a global fluid power equipment market of about $70 billion in 2025 and $73 billion in 2026, and IBISWorld's count of nearly 1,900 U.S. fluid power distributors. The MCE acquisition is MCE's seventh platform investment from Bertram Capital V, which targets control investments in companies with EBITDA above $7.5 million.
Solomon Partners, led by Jason Kliewer and Nick Troyer, advised MCE, BMO Capital Markets advised Bertram, and Ares and Antares provided debt financing. Bertram, headquartered in Foster City, California, has raised more than $4 billion in capital commitments since its 2006 founding. Frontenac, founded in 1971 and headquartered in Chicago, is investing from its thirteenth fund, Frontenac XIII Private Capital LP, which closed at $900 million in January 2025.
MCE sells, installs and repairs equipment that moves and controls liquids, gases and machinery in industrial plants. Its fluid power business supplies hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders, hoses, fittings and pumps, including through ParkerStore locations, while its flow control business supplies valves, actuators and instruments and is an authorized ABB instrumentation distributor. The company also sells rotating equipment, automation products and filtration systems, and serves original equipment manufacturers and plant operators in water and wastewater, chemicals, high-purity manufacturing and, more recently, data centers. According to the publisher summary, MCE has more than 700 employees, serves more than 25,000 customers from 50 U.S. locations, and offers products from about 850 supplier partners across its Motion Systems, Flow Control, and Rotating Equipment & Controls segments. The company traces its roots to Ritter Engineering Company, founded in Pittsburgh in 1951.
According to the source, Frontenac's ownership included add-ons such as Diversified Air Systems, Swanson Flow, Instrument Associates, Lone Star, Quest Engineering, Nightwine Valves & Actuation, Precision Pump & Valve, Power & Pump and Industrial Control Services, with MJ Systems, a supplier of chemical injection pump systems, added in August 2026. Frontenac said MCE's EBITDA grew more than fifteenfold during its ownership. Frontenac managing partner Ron Kuehl credited a focused value creation plan developed with Mr. Hale that expanded distribution capabilities and strengthened the company's foundation.
Bertram managing partner Kevin Yamashita said MCE has built a differentiated national platform and that Bertram plans to scale the business both organically and through acquisitions. Partner Chris Brown said MCE "checks every box" as an investment. Mr. Hale will continue as CEO, and the existing leadership team will remain in place and retain a meaningful investment. The source characterizes industrial distribution of fluid power and flow control equipment as large and fragmented, citing Mordor Intelligence estimates of a global fluid power equipment market of about $70 billion in 2025 and $73 billion in 2026, and IBISWorld's count of nearly 1,900 U.S. fluid power distributors. The MCE acquisition is MCE's seventh platform investment from Bertram Capital V, which targets control investments in companies with EBITDA above $7.5 million.
Solomon Partners, led by Jason Kliewer and Nick Troyer, advised MCE, BMO Capital Markets advised Bertram, and Ares and Antares provided debt financing. Bertram, headquartered in Foster City, California, has raised more than $4 billion in capital commitments since its 2006 founding. Frontenac, founded in 1971 and headquartered in Chicago, is investing from its thirteenth fund, Frontenac XIII Private Capital LP, which closed at $900 million in January 2025.
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