Mariner Capital Advisors has completed the sale of Kansas City-based Contrast Equipment Company to Midway Industrial Supply (“MIS”) of Minneapolis, Minn. The acquisition of Contrast makes MIS one of the largest industrial fluid handling and finishing equipment and system distributors in the country.

Contrast Equipment distributes industrial fluid handling and finishing equipment, provides custom- engineered batch and flow-through finishing systems, and offers installation, consulting, training, laboratory testing, and field repair services. The company was founded in 1923 and Bob Borman became its sole owner in 1988. Contrast now serves customers spanning all industries throughout Kansas and Missouri.

MIS is one of the top distributors of leading brand paint and powder application and fluid management equipment. The company sells equipment used for pumping, transferring, dispensing and spraying paints, resins, adhesives, sealants, lubricants and chemicals. MIS also has an industrial systems division providing custom-engineered solutions, as well as installation, integration, project management, consulting, training and repair services. The company is owned by Generation Growth Capital (“GGC”), a private equity firm based in Milwaukee, Wis., and currently serves customers throughout the upper Midwest.

Contrast will retain its existing employees and management team and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of MIS under the name Contrast Equipment, Inc. The company will remain at its current facility in Kansas City, providing MIS with a sixth sales office and an additional customer demonstration lab. MIS’s five existing sales offices are spread across Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

The transaction allows MIS to expand into the southern half of the Midwest region and provides Contrast with the financial and operational resources it needs to expand its geographic presence. Furthermore, both companies will now be able to offer customers a wider range of custom-engineered solutions and new product lines, including other leading brands of fluid handling and spray finishing equipment.