GE Antares served as administrative agent on a $315 million senior secured credit facility to support the acquisition of The Home Décor Companies by Nielsen & Bainbridge, a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Company, from Linsalata Capital Partners. Kohlberg & Company will rename the combined companies NBGHome.
“We’re pleased to provide debt financing to NBG Home and Kohlberg in support of the acquisition of The Home Décor Companies,” said Chet Zara, senior managing director of GE Antares. “We look forward to continuing to support Kohlberg and management as they pursue the exciting growth opportunities at NBGHome.”
The Home Décor Companies provide a collection of decorative home accessories to retailers throughout North America. Product categories include portable lighting, wall décor, accent furniture, throws and pillows. The company has domestic operations in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, California and Arkansas and also has two product sourcing offices in China. The company is headquartered south of Memphis in Southaven, MS (www.thehomedecorcompanies.com).
“GE Antares is a longstanding trusted business partner to Kohlberg,” said Seth Hollander, partner at Kohlberg. “Their responsiveness and their syndication expertise made them an ideal financing choice for creating NBGHome.”
GE Antares is a unit of GE Capital with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Specializing in the middle market, GE Antares is a “one-stop” source for GE’s lending and other services to middle market private equity sponsors (www.geantares.com).
Nielsen Bainbridge, acquired by Kohlberg & Company in 2006, is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of products for the custom and ready-made framing market. The company offers a range of custom framing products as well as ready-made frames and albums under a portfolio of brands, including Nielsen, Bainbridge, Nurre Caxton and Burnes. Nielsen Bainbridge is headquartered in Austin, TX (www.nielsenbainbridgegroup.com).
Kohlberg & Company invests in companies in the industrial manufacturing; consumer products; business services; healthcare services; and financial services sectors. The firm concentrates on transactions with EBITDAs between $20 million and $100 million where it can invest between $50 million and $200 million of equity. Kohlberg & Company is currently investing its seventh private equity fund, Kohlberg Investors VII. The firm was founded in 1987 and is based in Mt. Kisco, NY (www.kohlberg.com).
Linsalata Capital Partners invests from $10 million to $50 million of equity in middle market companies in an array of industries that have $7 million to $50 million of EBITDA and at least $300 million in enterprise value. The firm is currently investing from Linsalata Capital Partners Fund VI, LP with $427 million in committed equity capital. The firm was founded in 1984 and is based near Cleveland in Mayfield Heights, OH (www.linsalatacapital.com).
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 8-29-14
