R+D Custom Automation

R+D Custom Automation (“R+D”) designs, engineers, and builds custom automation equipment primarily for the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. As a full-service system integrator and specialized equipment manufacturer, R+D has been providing custom engineering solutions to the life sciences industry for over 40 years. The Company’s expertise encompassing complex filling and packaging applications for the pharmaceutical industry allowed R+D to play a key role during Operation Warp Speed.

As R+D’s ownership group contemplated the business’s next phase of growth, Promontory was engaged to explore growth and strategic alternatives. Working with R+D’s shareholders and leadership team, Promontory researched a global strategic and financial audience to identify potential partners that would align with R+D’s culture, engineering capabilities, and industry expertise. After marketing the R+D business and soliciting preliminary transactional interest from a variety of strategic and financial parties, Promontory helped negotiate a Letter of Intent with Krones AG. Based in Germany with an existing North American headquarters in Franklin, Wisconsin, Krones designs and manufactures fully integrated packaging and bottling line systems serving beverage, food, chemical, pharmaceutical, and other growing industries. Promontory managed the entire outreach, due diligence, and sale process and assisted in closing this strategic transaction between R+D and Krones.