CI Capital Partners LLC in partnership with management acquired Total Fleet Solutions LLC (TFS) primarily from Southfield Capital Partners on 5 July. Terms were not disclosed.

Holland-based TFS provides brand-independent turnkey services focusing on procurement, maintenance and fleet management of forklifts, order pickers, pallet trucks and aerial lifts. At TFS, Brent Parent is chief executive officer, and Todd Roberts is chief operating officer.

TFS's "comprehensive service offers savings to blue chip companies" and pursues a market with a tantalizing business upside, says Tim Hall, managing director at CI Capital.

TFS has about 100 employees, including a growing group of account representatives, and is on target to record 2012 sales of about USD50 million, up about 20% from 2011.

CI Capital formerly operated as Caxton-Iseman Capital and, with its portfolio companies, has completed more than 100 acquisitions over nearly two decades.

"We continue to execute on our core strategy of forming partnerships with proven management teams in order to build businesses," says Frederick J Iseman, chairman of the New York-based private equity investment firm.

While contemplating the TFS investment, CI Capital officials talked with managers at two of their companies - manufacturers of, separately, consumer and industrial products - that operate forklift fleets. "They were helpful in understanding the business model," Hall notes in an interview with Forkliftaction.com News. CI Capital's current portfolio involves 10 businesses.

TFS is in initial talks with both manufacturers about managing and tracking their material handling equipment.

"The outsourced management of forklifts and other materials handling equipment is an untapped market with excellent growth potential," Hall says. "Total Fleet is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this opportunity (and) can also serve as a platform for consolidation as we look to add additional services and products."

TFS operates often on a facility of an ultimate customer. Some clients have up to 100 facilities.

TFS concentrates on the US market, has a small presence in Canada and is weighing how to respond to "one or two important clients" who are "urging us to move to Europe with them", Hall says.

Some competitors in portions of the fleet management market provide consulting services or are original equipment manufacturers, but "no-one offers the entire service" such as TFS provides, Hall notes. "In the vast majority of cases, we find (large) companies are not focused on cost of their materials handling fleet. They don't have data to analyse."

TFS was founded in 2001. Equity investor Southfield Capital of Greenwich, Connecticut acquired control of the TFS business in October 2005.

In February, CI Capital began discussions that led to gaining control of TFS.