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Charlottesville, Virginia-based Quad-C Management is making the first quarter of this year count with the announcement of five new investments and the sale of one of its portfolio companies. Quad-C is a middle market private equity firm focused on investing in well-established business services, consumer, general industrial, healthcare, specialty distribution and transportation/logistics companies.

“It has been a very active year for Quad-C. These investments are in-line with our focus areas. 2013 was a bit slower for us, but we’ve seen an uptick heading into this year,” says Steve Burns, Senior Partner at Quad-C. “The financing is really hot right now and we’re seeing better quality in the market than there has been.”

The five investments constitute four fresh transactions and one add-on. The investments include:

Interwrap: a global manufacturer of coated woven materials and multi-layer laminated substrates for industrial use.

Worldwide Express: a franchisor providing logistics services to small and medium size businesses.

EFC international: which provides specialty fasteners to automotive and industrial end markets.

Network Hardware International: which is a global provider of refurbished and surplus networking equipment, servers and optics as well as network equipment maintenance services.

The add-on investment went to Towncare Dental which is now part of the Dental Care Alliance, another Quad-C company. “DCA has been growing by acquisition and Towncare represents a significant addition there,” Burns adds.

Finally, Quad-C has also sold its portfolio company Cloverhill Bakery to Switzerland-based global food business ARYZTA AG. During Quad-C’s investment period, Cloverhill has invested approximately $100 million in growth capital and grown revenue by more than 80%.

Looking ahead, Burns says “it’s definitely a sellers market right now, the multiples for companies are better and the quality of companies out there are better.” He expects to see a slightly more active dealflow than last year. The company will be focusing on healthcare, industrials, and domestic manufacturing. “We think the US is looking a lot more attractive in terms of energy, freight and manufacturing and there aren’t a lot of firms out there with the expertise to find the great companies in that space.”