Cassel Salpeter & Co. Serves as Financial Advisor in the Sale of Franmar Corporation to Beacon Mobility

Cassel Salpeter & Co., an independent investment banking firm that provides advisory services to middle market and emerging growth companies in the United States and worldwide, today announced that it has successfully advised Franmar Corporation (“Franmar”), a South Florida provider of school bus transportation, in its sale to Beacon Mobility (“Beacon”), which provides outsourced transportation services for adults and schoolchildren across the United States, backed by the Audax Group.

Since its inception over forty years ago, Franmar has emphasized its devotion to delivering safe, reliable student transportation in its effort to be the most dependable transportation provider in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties. It is based in Cutler Bay, Fla.

Beacon, an expanding network of companies headquartered in Wilbraham, Mass., serves its customers’ diverse needs by providing transportation solutions for school districts, special education programs, charter services, regional transit authorities and non-emergency medical programs, as well as managed services.

“Having grown up in Miami and ridden on Franmar busses throughout my childhood, it was great to find a buyer in Beacon that will carry on the legacy that was built by Fran Martinelli. With further investment, Beacon has unlimited potential in the growing South Florida market,” said Managing Director Philip Cassel, who led the process helping Franmar negotiate the transaction and assisting throughout the due diligence and closing process. Tahz Rashid from Cassel Salpeter assisted with the transaction.

“It was a pleasure to work with the Cassel Salpeter team. They helped us keep the process moving forward and met the transaction timeline, while allowing us to focus on the business without interruption. It really felt like they had our back throughout the entire process,” added Franmar founder Fran Martinelli.

Other professionals who assisted in closing the transaction include Danielle Price, Isabel Diaz, Sydney Landers and Alexa Duarte of Holland & Knight LLP, counsel to the seller, and Albert Sueiras of the accounting firm Sueiras & Amador. The buyer was represented by David Duke, Chief Commercial Officer at Beacon and Amanda Tonelli, Manager of Mergers & Acquisitions at Beacon, as well as Foley & Lardner LLP and Anderson & Kreiger LLP, together counsel to the buyer.