Cathay Portfolio Company, Innovative Office Products, Acquires HAT Contract
May 4, 2020
North America
Cathay Portfolio Company, Innovative Office Products, Acquires HAT Contract
New York, June 8, 2018
Cathay Capital North American-Sino Fund (“Cathay Capital”) is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Innovative Office Products, LLC (“Innovative” or the “Company”) (www.innovativeworkspaces.com), has completed the acquisition of HAT Contract (“HAT”) (www.hatcontract.com), a San Jose, CA-based, leading North American designer, contract manufacturer and distributor of office ergonomic products including height adjustable tables, power/data beams, drawer pedestals, dividers, work surfaces and electrical components for benching and bases. HAT’s Founders, Brian McNay and Tony Glaves, will continue to manage the HAT business and have also become shareholders of Innovative.
Founded in 2013, HAT was created by Messrs. McNay and Glaves after significant experiences as furniture dealers and in other related industries. The height adjustable segment of the office furniture market is benefiting from strong tailwinds as today’s offices are being reshaped by the introduction of ergonomic and innovative office productivity solutions. HAT products are exceptionally recognized in the contract office marketplace as an accelerator of the movement towards open office environments. HAT’s products are known for the health benefits associated with height adjustability and the company provides a unique combination of quality lines, exceptional service and value.
Innovative is an award-winning, North American designer and manufacturer of office / workspace ergonomic and related products including monitor arms, sit-stand workstations, multi-monitor mounts and desk stands, point-of-sale (POS) mounts and healthcare and specialty OEM mounting solutions. The Company is a leading force in the global furniture and related accessories industry. Based in Easton, PA, Innovative began as a family-owned operation in 1986 and has grown into a global company over the past 30 years. The Company designs, develops and assembles products in the U.S. and sells into multiple markets including corporate offices, retailers, hospitality providers, hospitals and other healthcare providers, and to the government. Currently, Innovative serves North America, Europe (through its Copenhagen office) and Australia.
In addition to Cathay, the shareholders of Innovative include senior members of management, Norwest Mezzanine Partners (“Norwest” or “NMP”) and ORIX Mezzanine & Private Equity (“ORIX”).
Cathay’s cross-border strategy focuses on providing access for its North American portfolio companies to resources and networks in China and Europe to establish sales relationships, improve operating and sourcing capabilities, and to enhance the strategic capabilities of portfolio companies in key global markets. Additionally, Cathay helps strengthen client and strategic relations throughout its own offices in China, Europe and other parts of the world. Innovative, now along with the HAT team, has the desire to cross sell its broad Innovative and HAT lines of products and more rapidly expand globally given the appeal of ergonomics and specialty-mounting products across markets. Cathay’s successful experience with Germantown, WI-based Raffel Systems (www.raffel.com), a leader in the furniture motion controls industry, originally paved the way for Innovative to seek out Cathay’s unique cross-border strategy.
“The office furniture industry has been growing in a very healthy fashion in North America as an increasing percentage of professionals and employers continue to focus on ergonomics and smart office products that enhance workplace health and wellness while improving employee productivity. Cathay Capital’s North America, China and Europe teams are so excited to work with Innovative and the HAT team to accelerate the combined Company’s growth” said Mingpo Cai, Founder and President of Cathay Capital. “We are thrilled to partner with Brian and Tony to fuel the rapid expansion of this powerful new entity over the coming years through organic growth. This add-on investment further helps us execute on our strategy for helping forward-thinking North American companies identify and realize cross-border opportunities in China and Europe – where Cathay has an extensive footprint and ecosystem” said Mark Woods and David Hoffman, Partners with Cathay Capital.
On behalf of the Innovative management team, CEO David Fox said, “We are delighted to have HAT become a part of our family and are so excited to work with Brian and Tony and their team with this transformative combination of brands and resources. Our strategic visions are perfectly aligned and we are excited to achieve dynamic growth on multiple continents as we plan to continue to develop innovative ergonomic and mounting solutions together to satisfy expanding demand for products that improve health, wellness and productivity.”
“We founded HAT with the vision of delivering next-generation workspace ergonomic solutions to businesses of all sizes and in all industry segments, helping them achieve smart and efficient workplace transformations,” said Brian McNay, HAT co-Founder. “We are excited to join Innovative and bring product enhanced solutions for the open office environment and ergonomics solutions to many global customers in all markets.”