Compass Diversified (NYSE:CODI) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Pat Maciariello: So, I mean, Elias has said many times – that many of our business is up for sale, it’s all a matter of price. And so, but we’re not actively going out. We don’t have plans to actively go out and market any business this year at all. On the 5.11 side, I would say to the extent the IPO market opens next year. And – never say never the, company has got a great management team, they’re executing well and it’s one of the most powerful brands, we’ve ever been associated with if that makes sense. So those – that would be how I would answer both of those Elias what you add.

Elias Sabo: Yes and Matt, bankers, we constantly are talking to bankers you would anticipate and about the markets. The capital markets have been dead. I think correct me if I’m wrong, Pat, but I don’t think there was a single consumer IPO in 2022. And I think in the first quarter, we’re not going to see one. So incredible that we’ve gone this long with the IPO market being shut as it is. But given what’s happened in the overall market and the uncertainty and the macro picture and kind of the Federal Reserve being as tight as it is. It’s not surprising that the capital markets are closed. As I’ve talked to my team and just to remind us – the sun always comes up. It might take a little bit longer, but the sun will eventually come up a day.

Again, there will be a day where capital markets open up again where the M&A markets open up again, we just happen to be in a period where the sun isn’t rising as quickly as we’d all like it. But these things don’t shut forever. And I would anticipate that kind of as we work our way through this year and into next year, even if macro conditions don’t change, at some point, the markets will open up, because they’ve been on pause for so long there’s a need for new supply to come in. And so, it feels like we’re probably going to work our way through that here in the next kind of few quarters. And I think to the extent that the markets are open to high quality companies, and giving decent value – kind of good valuations to high quality companies and 5.11 is a very high quality company.

Than we would consider like we did a couple years ago taking that company public and having a piece of that be floated in the public market and their capital requirements, being funded by – the public investors. So, I think we have to just wait and see where it is. I could tell you that company is very much a public ready company and its performance relative to other companies in the apparel space. Over a really difficult time, as Pat indicated earlier, I think does nothing other than enhance its attractiveness to public investors. Because when other companies are seeing huge pressure on revenue growth in the apparel space on margins, we’re able to generate almost double-digit revenue growth and had only a small amount of deleveraging. I mean, it was 9% revenue growth and 6% percent EBITDA growth last year.

So it’s extraordinary considering the conditions and I think it really helps to kind of tie a bow on how differentiated this company is. And how strong this company is and so, I think when the market opens up, it probably is more attractive to public investors than it was, even a couple of years ago when we approached the market last time.

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