Prospect Capital has provided $100 million of senior secured debt financing to support the recapitalization of Broder Bros., a portfolio company of Littlejohn & Co.
“Prospect impressed us with its diligent and efficient underwriting process, helping to recapitalize Broder to position the company for long-term success,” said David Simon, a Managing Director of Littlejohn.
Broder Bros. is a distributor of imprintable sportswear and accessories. With revenues of approximately $850 million the company sources undecorated T-shirts and imprintable sportswear and distributes them to apparel screen printers who decorate them for a wide variety of purposes. Broder Bros. operates eight distribution facilities and ten “express” facilities offering pickup services to customers. The company was founded in 1919 and is based in Trevose, PA (www.broderbros.com).
Last month, Broder Bros. acquired Imprints Wholesale, a wholesale clothing distributor serving the West Coast, Central and Midwest United States. The company distributes a portfolio of blank imprintable apparel and products, including T-shirts, fleece, sport shirts, golf shirts and related items. The company was founded in 1987 and operates five distribution centers with its headquarters in Denver (www.imprintswholesale.com).
“With our scale team, one of the largest and most experienced in the middle-market, coupled with our deep credit expertise, we are pleased with completing the Broder transaction to support Littlejohn and Broder’s experienced management team,” said Richard Carratu, a Managing Director of Prospect Capital.
Prospect invests from $10 million to $75 million in private and micro-cap public businesses located in the US and Canada that have from $3 million to $30 million of EBITDA. Investment structures include: senior debt; unitranche debt; 2nd lien and mezzanine debt; and “one stop” debt and equity. The firm invests in an array of industries and is effectively industry agnostic. Prospect Capital is headquartered in New York (www.prospectstreet.com).
Prospect has closed approximately $800 million of new originations during the current March 2013 quarter, bringing trailing-twelve-month originations to nearly $3 billion.
Littlejohn & Co. makes control and non-control investments in middle-market companies that are undergoing a fundamental change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth. The firm is currently investing from Littlejohn Fund IV which has over $1.3 billion in capital commitments. Littlejohn & Co. is based in Greenwich, CT (www.littlejohnllc.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-28-13