Investment firm acquires Huntersville playground equipment maker

A private investment firm will acquire PlayPower, a Huntersville-based maker of commercial playground equipment, from a public management investment company.

Littlejohn & Co., LLC, a private investment firm in Greenwich, Conn., said Monday that it had signed an agreement with New York-based Apollo Investment Corporation to buy PlayPower.

The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the second quarter. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

PlayPower sells commercial playground equipment under brand names that include Little Tikes Commercial, Hags Play, Soft Play and Miracle Recreation Equipment. Although headquartered in Huntersville, PlayPower has marketing, sales and manufacturing facilities in Missouri, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The company employs more than 1,100 people.

In addition to playground equipment, the company makes canopies, benches, tabletop grills and floating dock systems and lifts for boats.

“We are excited to partner with Littlejohn because they are ideally capable to support our next phase of growth and development,” PlayPower CEO Joe Copeland said in a news release.

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Investment firm acquires Huntersville playground equipment maker."