MCM Capital Partners Completes Sale Of Zinkan Enterprises
Cleveland, OH, February 17, 2025 – MCM Capital Partners (“MCM”), a lower middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce the sale of Zinkan Enterprises, rebranded as ChemREADY (“Zinkan”), a leading provider of chemicals, equipment, and services used for maintaining safe and compliant water quality processes to Plexus Capital, headquartered in Charlotte, NC. This marks the culmination of a strategic partnership between MCM & Zinkan Enterprises that began in 2011, during which Zinkan transformed from a traditional chemical supplier to the coal and mining industries to a leading provider of industrial and commercial water treatment solutions.
MCM led the acquisition of Zinkan in October 2011 as part of its proactive search for specialty chemicals manufacturers. From 2011 to 2017, the Company navigated unfavorable market dynamics primarily driven by legislative changes governing the coal industry and a glut of inexpensive natural gas, resulting in more than a dozen bankruptcies from its traditional coal customers. Recognizing the need for a long term shift, collectively MCM and management repositioned Zinkan’s core business, transitioning away from coal and commodity markets to focus on high-value water treatment solutions. This strategic shift leveraged the Company’s expertise in chemical formulation, technical problem-solving, and high-touch customer service—offering not only a more resilient business model but also stronger margins to support sustainable growth.
To facilitate the transition, the Company divested several noncore business segments in coal related and other commodity chemicals, freeing up capital to further expand its higher margin water treatment line and service offerings. The divestitures laid the foundation for the development of the ChemREADY brand as a separate water treatment line devoted to technical commercial and industrial water treatment solutions positioning the company for long term success.
ChemREADY’s expansion was driven primarily through organic growth, leveraging digital marketing initiatives and technology to position itself as a go-to resource for boiler, cooling tower, legionella treatment and AAMI ST-108 compliance. To further enhance its value proposition, management added ultra-concentrated chemicals to its product line, improving the customer experience with easier application and enhanced cost and efficiency.
In addition to organic growth, ChemREADY expanded inorganically through two strategic add-on acquisitions (Gilligan Technology and Waterra Corporation) both funded through internal operations. The acquisitions strengthened the Company’s market presence and built a critical mass of recurring water treatment customers. Ultimately, these growth initiatives positioned the Company as a premier industrial water treatment solutions provider, creating an attractive platform for future acquisitions and compelling opportunity for potential acquirers.
“I could not be happier for the ChemREADY team. While the first several years were particularly challenging, weathering those storms developed a resilience in the team enabling us to execute our goal of reshaping the business into what it is today,” stated Greg Ott, Senior Operating Partner at MCM Capital. “I look forward to watching ChemREADY continue to develop into one of the Midwest’s leading industrial and commercial water treatment providers.”
About MCM Capital Partners
Based in Cleveland, OH, MCM Capital is a lower middle market private equity fund focused on acquiring niche manufacturers, value-added distributors and specialty service businesses possessing significant competitive advantages and generating between $1.5-$6 million in EBITDA. MCM is currently investing out of its fourth committed fund and actively seeking additional platform and add-on acquisition opportunities.
