Abacus Backs Baird’s Buy of Kason
Search

Abacus Backs Baird’s Buy of Kason

abacus NFAbacus Finance Group served as Administrative Agent and Sole Lead Arranger for $18 million in senior secured credit facilities to support the recent acquisition of Kason Corporation by Baird Capital.

Kason Corporation manufactures equipment such as circular vibratory screeners and centrifugal screeners designed to separate bulk solids materials from solids and slurries, as well as a line of fluid-bed processors for drying, cooling, or moisturizing of bulk solids. The company serves a variety of end-markets, primarily food and dairy, chemical and plastic manufacturers. Kason is based in Millburn, NJ (www.kason.com).

“Abacus was an outstanding partner for the Kason transaction,” said C. Andrew Brickman, a partner with Baird Capital. “We were impressed with their responsiveness and willingness to roll up their sleeves and dig into the business. They asked the right questions and were quick to grasp the Kason business model, enabling them to commit early and deliver a flexible and comprehensive financing package. We look forward to working with Abacus again in the future.”

Abacus targets debt financing opportunities of up to $50 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $25 million. The companies that Abacus finances generally have EBITDAs between $3 million and $15 million. Abacus was formed in June 2011 and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust, the holding company for Emigrant Bank, founded in 1850, the largest privately held bank in America with approximately $10 billion in assets. Abacus is based in New York (www.abacusfinance.com).

“We are delighted to begin a relationship with Baird Capital,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus. “We worked hand-in-hand with their team, and we were impressed by their openness and transparency during the due diligence process as well as by the quality of resources they brought to the transaction. They were particularly pleased by the level of service we were able to provide in terms of speed and flexibility in transaction structuring.”

Abacus team members involved in the transaction included Sean McKeever and Eric Petersen. Abacus was joined in the financing by mezzanine partner Fifth Street Finance (www.fifthstreetfinance.com).

Baird Capital, the direct private investment arm of Robert W. Baird & Co., invests in lower middle-market companies in the manufactured products, healthcare and business services sectors. The firm invests from $15 million to $35 million in companies with enterprise values of $25 million to $125 million and EBITDAs greater than $5 million. Baird Capital was founded in 1989 and is based in Chicago (www.bairdcapital.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-6-13

To search in site, type your keyword and hit enter