Industry:
Industrial Growth
Investment Status:
Realized
Potter Global Technologies is a leading provider of fire & life safety products, both electronic and mechanical, protecting people and commercial and residential buildings from and during emergency situations. The company is the market standard for sprinkler monitoring solutions, is rapidly growing in the fire systems market with a portfolio of next generation products and best-in-class service, and is a leader in the critical mass notification systems industry.
At the time of our investment in 2017, the fire & life safety products sector was experiencing significant growth, driven by increased focus on building safety. New entrants faced significant barriers to entry due to strict product certification requirements. In addition, the four multinational fire systems players were slower-moving organizations focused on the bottom line over customer service. Gryphon knew the fire safety market well through its prior investments in Jensen Hughes and Consolidated Fire Protection.
A 100-year-old brand, Potter was primed for growth with the right investment, driven by an increasing number of fire code regulations and the non-discretionary nature of fire safety products. Gryphon saw an opportunity to quickly dedicate resources to scale Potter by investing in R&D to develop cutting-edge fire systems products, modernizing the company’s operations, augmenting the management team, and expanding its product portfolio to compete with these multinational players.
Key Initiatives
- Potter was transformed from a single-product, single-market sprinkler monitoring manufacturer into a global, multi-product technology leader across multiple fire and safety end markets.
- Launched several new products in the fire systems space which have made Potter competitive against the “Big 4” multinational players in the category and seen the company’s fire systems business grow >3x since 2017.
- Broader product offering leveraged for significant cross-selling across the company’s product lines and positioned the business for continued growth.
- After multiple years of significant, above-market growth, the company was sold to KKR in 2023.
Outcome
- Potter was transformed from a single-product, single-market sprinkler manufacturer into a global, multi-product technology leader across multiple fire and safety end markets.
- Launched several new products in the fire systems space which have made Potter competitive against the “Big 4” multinational players in the category and seen the company’s fire systems business grow >3x from the level in 2017.
- Broader product offering being leveraged for significant cross-selling across the company’s product lines and positions the business for continued growth.
- After multiple years of significant growth, the company was sold to KKR in 2023.
— Gerry Connolly, CEO“As a result of Gryphon’s partnership model and its value-add board members, Potter decisively made several major R&D investments early in Gryphon’s investment which enabled growth that has far outpaced the market years after those investments.”
of Potter Global Technologies