- Icon Identity Solutions (Merit Capital Partners-backed) merged with MC Group (Arcapita portfolio company) in August 2019 to create a scaled U.S. brand implementation platform.
- The combination broadened offerings by pairing Icon’s signage/installation/refresh capabilities with MC Group’s lighting, electrical, and energy solutions for national clients.
- Duff & Phelps (Kroll) advised Icon as exclusive financial advisor, with Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren and King & Spalding serving as legal counsel to the respective parties.
- Operations will be centered in Mentor, Ohio while maintaining Icon’s Illinois presence, initially operating under both names with planned eventual brand consolidation.
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The merger between Icon Identity Solutions and MC Group reflects a strategic consolidation within the brand implementation industry designed to broaden service offerings, scale operations, and enhance cross‐selling potential. Both companies brought differentiated core competencies: Icon with broad signage, installation and maintenance; MC with lighting, electrical, energy management. This combination creates an entity positioned to serve larger national clients offering end‐to‐end implementation, energy efficiency, and construction/refresh capabilities.
For Merit Capital Partners, the merger marked the exit of their Fund V investment in Icon, which began in February 2016 via both subordinated debt and equity capital. During their ownership period, Merit helped drive approximately 40% growth through expanding existing service lines and adding new customers with national reach. The merger provided an opportunity to monetize that growth.
From an advisory standpoint, Duff & Phelps played the role of exclusive financial advisor to Icon in this transaction—a middle‐market advisory mandate noteworthy for its complexity given MC’s complementary profile and Arcapita’s backing. Legal counsel was split, with Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren advising Icon, and King & Spalding advising MC.
Operational integration appears planned but cautious: both brands initially retained, dual headquarters maintained, with leadership structure combining key executives (CEO from MC, Icon’s President/CEO becomes President/CRO, and COO role). This suggests intent to preserve brand equity and operational continuity while gradually rationalizing back‐office functions.
However, some open questions remain: the financial valuation terms of the merger were not disclosed publicly; how margins compare across business lines (signage vs lighting vs energy) remains unclear; the integration risks—cultural, operational, customer overlap—also are undetailed. The pace and scope of rebranding and consolidation under a single name, as well as the impact on debt structure and credit facilities, require further scrutiny.
Supporting Notes
- In August 2019, Icon Identity Solutions and MC Group merged to form a major brand implementation company in the U.S.
- Icon was a portfolio company of Merit Capital Partners; MC Group was a portfolio of Arcapita.
- Duff & Phelps served as exclusive financial advisor to Icon.
- Legal advisors: Icon retained Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren; MC Group retained King & Spalding.
- Under Merit’s ownership since February 2016, Icon grew by ~40% through expansion across service lines and gaining a new customer with national footprint.
- MC Group’s fast‐growing Energy Solutions including Lighting were added to Icon’s customers; likewise, Icon brought construction and remodel/refresh services to MC’s base.
- Corporate HQ set at Mentor, Ohio (MC Group); operations in Rolling Meadows, Illinois (Icon) maintained.
- Leadership roles: Tim Eippert (MC) as CEO; Kurt Ripkey (Icon) as President/CRO; Dave Walters as President/COO. Combined leadership brings almost 100 years’ industry experience.
- Monroe Capital expanded its credit facility to MC Group to support the merger.