GracoRoberts Acquires Pacific Coast Composites to Provide Composites Products and Shorter Lead Times

GracoRoberts has acquired Washington-based Pacific Coast Composites (PCC) to significantly expand its composites materials offerings and underpin its standing as the largest, fastest, and most technical aerospace specialty chemicals distributor around the globe.

The addition of stocking distributor Pacific Coast Composites to the GracoRoberts family bolsters the organization’s product depth and breadth and amplifies its reach to customers and suppliers in the $31 billion (7.5% CAGR) aerospace composites market. As a go-to distributor for leading brands 3M, Hexcel, Aerovac, and Isovolta, PCC stocks nearly 400 composites products from 20 suppliers and 15 product categories including adhesives, bagging materials, pre-pregs, resins, honeycomb core, and more. With spec-driven in-house converting, and offering customers custom kitting and slitting capabilities, it is PCC’s rapid turn and same day shipping on made-to-order composites materials that truly sets the company apart. GracoRoberts will now offer immediate access to a historically long-lead time product offering – upwards of 30 days to one year – enabling next-level service and speed to market for its customer base.  

In addition, PCC’s customers will benefit from a larger portfolio of products and channel partners in the specialty chemicals space from GracoRoberts, including Resin Formulators, GracoRoberts’ custom formulated line of epoxy resins. Through GracoRoberts’ ecommerce platforms Pacific Coast Composites’ customers – and the global aerospace community at large – will benefit from easy access to composite materials in an unprecedented click-to-ship environment, the company says.

“We are thrilled to welcome Pacific Coast Composites into the GracoRoberts family of brands,” said Jason Caldwell, president and CEO of GracoRoberts. “PCC has uniquely solved for long-lead times and excessive waste in the complex composites material space, and GracoRoberts has adopted an online first strategy to take those products to market. Together, we are significantly enhancing the overall customer experience by making it easier and faster to purchase the specific materials they need, with the quality they expect.”

Kevin Fochtman, president of Pacific Coast Composites, added, “We’ve developed a business centered on providing our customers with smaller, customized composites material sizes in a near 24-hour turnaround time. Culturally, we believe in giving our customers what they want, in the quantity they want, and most importantly, when they want it. We pride ourselves in solving problems, offering exceptional service, and adding real value that the customer can measure. Our focus on the customer is in absolute alignment with GracoRoberts, which makes our partnership such a natural fit.” Pacific Coast Composites will maintain its operations in Puyallup, Washington, and serve as a key distribution hub for GracoRoberts in the Northwestern United States.

The acquisition of Pacific Coast Composites is supported by CM Equity Partners, the private equity sponsor of GracoRoberts and partner to the GracoRoberts management team. CM Equity Partners has assisted GracoRoberts in its global and digital strategic growth initiatives through acquisitions of E.V. Roberts, Able Aerospace Adhesives, Sil-Mid Ltd., and most recently, SkyGeek.com. CM Equity Partners has over 30 years of experience providing growth capital to the aerospace, defense, and federal services industries.