Tribally-owned Mno-Bmadsen buys out partners in manufacturing portfolio

Mno-Bmadsen has bought out its partners in Mno-DREK LLC, taking full ownership of the manufacturing holding company it first invested in eight years ago.

The non-gaming investment arm of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi now owns all of Mno-DREK, which includes Enmark Tool & Gage in Fraser, a Detroit suburb; Michiana Global Mold in Mishawaka, Ind.; and Walerko Tool & Engineering in Elkhart, Ind.

The Dowagiac-based Mno-Bmadsen began building the Mno-DREK portfolio in 2018 for long-term investments to expand into manufacturing. The holding company first invested in Michiana Global Mold, then later added Enmark Tool & Gage and Walerko Tool & Engineering.

Mno-Bmadsen previously held a 54% share of Mno-DREK. The deal to buy the remaining shares of the holding company closed July 22. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Mno-Bmadsen CEO Julio Martinez said the firm needs to make capital investments to expand portfolio companies and “our partners weren’t necessarily in a place to make those additional investments, so this frees us up to continue our strategy.”

The holding company formed with the idea that the partners would eventually exit and transition full ownership of Mno-DREK to the tribally owned firm, he said.

“They had a shorter hold period, we have a much longer hold period, and reinvesting in a business like this that’s capital-intensive for equipment as technology moves, and even complementary acquisitions, requires more capital,” Martinez said. “If we continue to be the ones providing the majority of the capital, we dilute them out fairly significantly and fairly quickly, and the idea was to have them as operating partners, substantially invested until we were ready to move into ownership. So, it was just the right time for them and the right time for us.”

Enmark Tool & Gage provides precision machining services and machine tool subassemblies for complex parts and components, while Michiana Global Mold does mold design, prototypes, tooling, and production support through domestic and offshore manufacturers.

Walerko Tool & Engineering specializes in precision machining, tooling, fixtures, gauges, and custom equipment serving the heavy equipment, automotive, marine and aerospace industries.

The three companies combined generate annual revenue of about $20 million and employ 90 people, Martinez said. Mno-Bmadsen intends to name a new management team for Mno-DREK soon, he added.

Owning all of Mno-DREK “allows us more easily to share resources across the portfolio where we have expertise that overlaps in many cases,” Martinez said. “The synergistic effect we can fully take control of, where that was more difficult with partners, primarily for capital resources that needed to be invested.”

Mno-Bmadsen holds a portfolio of about 20 business entities that generate more than $200 million in revenue and employ more than 600 people. Other holdings include the Bodwé Group, a professional services portfolio with Kalamazoo-based architecture firm Seven Generations A&E; D.A. Dodd, an Indiana-based mechanical, plumbing and sheet metal contractor; and Indiana brokerage firm Cressy Commercial Real Estate.