MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT has learned that Norwalk, CT-based Fairfield Mint, a print and Web cataloger of die-cast collectibles, was sold to investment bank Encore Capital and New York-based private equity firm Buckingham Capital on May 12. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Encore Capital was formed by Joseph Grabowski, formerly the chief executive at Specialty Catalog Corp. Grabowski is the executive-in-residence and Fairfield Mint’s president.
Princeton, NJ-based investment bank Tucker Alexander represented Fairfield Mint in the deal.
According to its Website, Fairfield Mint is the third largest direct marketer of die-cast automobile replicas in the U.S. In addition to replica automobiles it sells die-cast replicas of historic guns, fire engines, and other collectibles.
Grabowski sees opportunities to mail deeper into the Fairfield Mint house file as well as to further develop its Website and explore business-to-business opportunities. What’s more, he says he’s on the hunt for additional acquisitions.
Grabowski was chief executive of Brockton, MA-based Specialty Catalog, which mailed the Especially Yours and Paula Young wigs titles, until it was sold to Edgestone Capital in February 2005.