Blue River Advises Industrial Inspection & Analysis on Acquisition of Tribologik Laboratories

March 24, 2025 – Blue River Financial Group has advised Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA), a high-growth industrial inspection and analysis company and portfolio company of SRM Equity Partners, on the recent acquisition of Tribologik Laboratories. This acquisition expands IIA’s geographic reach and allows it to offer an entirely new service line in critical fluids analysis.

IIA was founded in 2015 with a vision to build a best-in-class industrial inspection and certification company to serve an array of industrial sectors and sub-sectors. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, IIA has an extensive footprint across North America and an ever-expanding presence in the industrial sector. With the addition of Tribologik, IIA has 18 locations, including 11 laboratories, across North America.

Christopher Niebuhr, IIA’s Chief Executive Officer, stated “The lubricant and fuel analysis capability that Tribologik brings to our portfolio goes beyond simply providing our lift vehicle fleet customers with money saving reduced maintenance costs. We see tremendous opportunity to service our Facility customers with rapid analysis of their rotating equipment fluids as well.”

Tribologik was founded in 1984 to provide ASTM compliant lubricant, fuel, coolant and grease testing to monitor the condition of aerospace, data centers, manufacturing, utility, fire department, industrial, mining and transport equipment. With lab locations in the Greater Chicago and Montreal Metropolitan areas, Tribologik possesses ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation for fluids that keep valuable assets reliably operating with the lowest cost of ownership.

“For the past 40 years, the team at Tribologik has helped customers in a variety of industries including facilities, plants, and data centers to enhance productivity and safety, and minimize pollutant emissions into the environment. I am proud of the work we have done and excited about our future with IIA,” says Nicholas Reich, Vice President Tribologik.

Established in 2015, SRM Equity Partners is a results-driven private equity firm with headquarters in Atlanta, GA, and Austin, TX. Managing $350 million in committed capital, SRM cultivates leading middle-market enterprises within the healthcare, business and tech-enabled services, manufacturing and distribution industries.

Daniel Sundby, Managing Director at Blue River, said “Blue River is grateful for the opportunity to connect Tribologik and IIA/SRM on this transaction. For IIA, partnering with Tribologik brings fuel and lubricant analysis capabilities. For Tribologik, an opportunity to partner with an industry leader that will bring tremendous growth opportunities. We’re excited for the Tribologik/IIA teams as they build something great together!”

About Blue River

Blue River Financial Group is a middle market merger and acquisition advisory firm. We assist corporations, private equity groups and individuals in the sale and acquisition of businesses and have completed assignments in multiple business segments. With over 20 years of experience spanning across 50 global industries, Blue River provides a suite of services to middle market clients including corporate development, private equity support, valuations, and transaction consulting, placing a premium on relationship-centered transaction counsel and client focus.

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