Archives for December 3, 2014

ABRY Partners Exits Xand

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ABRY Partners has sold its portfolio company Xand, a provider of IT managed services, to TierPoint.  TierPoint is currently owned by an investor group that includes Cequel III management led by Chairman Jerry Kent, RedBird Capital Partners, The Stephens Group, Jordan/Zalaznick Advisers, and Thompson Street Capital Partners.

Xand, acquired by ABRY in October 2011, is a provider of colocation, cloud, disaster recovery, and managed services with six data centers located in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The company is headquartered north of White Plains in Hawthorne, NY (www.xand.com).

The acquisition of Xand is funded through a combination of incremental equity from TierPoint’s existing investors as well as a new investor, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, led by Teachers’ Private Capital.  RBC Capital Markets and Credit Suisse will be providing debt financing for the transaction.

TierPoint is a provider of information technology services including colocation, cloud and managed IT services.  The company owns and operates data centers in seven markets: Baltimore, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Spokane.  The company is comprised of six former regional data center service providers: Colo4 in Texas, Perimeter Technology in Oklahoma, Adhost and TierPoint in Washington, Baltimore Technology Park in Maryland and Philadelphia Technology Park in Pennsylvania.  TierPoint is headquartered in St. Louis (www.tierpoint.com).

With the closing of the transaction, TierPoint now operates 13 highly-redundant, Tier III plus data centers with nearly 300,000 square feet of raised floor. The addition of Xand also positions TierPoint to significantly expand data center capacity in the future by an additional 150,000 square feet of raised floor to support the long-term demands of its customers. The consolidated company will also share a common cloud infrastructure supported by partners such as Cisco, NetApp, and Fortinet.

ABRY Partners invests in the media, communications, and business and information sectors. ABRY is currently investing ABRY Partners VII (a $1.6 billion private equity fund), ABRY Senior Equity III (a $750 million senior equity/mezzanine fund) and ABRY Advanced Securities Fund II (a $1.2 billion senior debt fund). The firm is headquartered in Boston (www.abry.com).

Paul Estes, TierPoint CEO, said the process of integrating resources, systems and teams, as well as the rebranding of Xand’s properties is underway and expected to be completed within the next year. “We expect the integration to go very smoothly. At the same time, we are continuing to look for potential acquisitions to add to our platform,” he said.

DH Capital (www.dhcapital.com), a New York-based investment bank specializing in data centers, managed hosting, cloud computing, cable television, telecomm, and software-as-a-service, was the exclusive financial advisor to ABRY and Xand.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-3-14

Elm Creek Partners Acquires The Care Group of Texas

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Elm Creek Partners has acquired The Care Group of Texas, a provider of in-home health services.  Bowside Capital, 747 Capital, and industry executive Roy Spradlin invested in The Care Group alongside Elm Creek.

The Care Group of Texas (CGT) is one of the largest providers of in-home, pediatric respiratory therapy and enteral feeding services and supplies in the greater Houston, Texas market. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston (www.caregrp.com).

Upon closing of the acquisition, Elm Creek appointed Mr. Spradlin as the company’s new chief executive officer.  Mr. Spradlin is the former CEO of Senior PsychCare and US Physical Therapy.  He has over thirty years of healthcare industry experience and an extensive track record of successfully growing and developing various healthcare related businesses.

Elm Creek Partners and The Care Group are looking to grow CGT through geographic expansion and additional services and Elm Creek has additional committed equity capital available to support these future initiatives.

Elm Creek Partners invests from $3 million to $6 million in companies with $5 million to $50 million in revenues and cash flow of at least $1 million. Sectors of interest include niche manufacturing, aerospace & defense, industrial services, healthcare services, and non-bank transaction processing.  The firm has no geographic limitations but prefers to invest in companies based in Texas and the surrounding states. Elm Creek Partners was founded in 2007 by Aaron Handler and Zach Wooldridge and is headquartered in Dallas (www.elmcreekpartners.com).

Bowside Capital invests in US and Canadian private equity funds with less than $150 million in committed capital, makes secondary purchases of limited partner interests in funds that meet its target criteria, and co-invests with these small funds and independent sponsors in direct transactions.  The firm was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Charleston, SC (www.bowsidecapital.com).

747 Capital, through co-mingled funds and managed accounts, focuses exclusively on the small-cap private equity market in the US and Canada.  The firm invests in new private equity funds as well as select secondary opportunities and also makes direct investments.  Typical direct investment targets are US or Canadian based companies that have enterprise values under $100 million and cash flow under $10 million. The firm is based in New York (www.747capital.com).

Tangent Capital Partners (www.tangentcapital.com), a New York-based investment bank, was the exclusive advisor to the sellers on the transaction.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-3-14

Ridgemont Acquires Allied 100

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Ridgemont Equity Partners has acquired Allied 100, a provider of automated external defibrillator products and services, from Thompson Street Capital Partners which acquired the company in May 2012.

Allied 100 is a value-added distributor and retailer of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), AED supplies and accessories, and advanced life support monitors. The company also offers aftermarket support services, including physician oversight, AED legal compliance and replacement parts management.  Allied 100 is headquartered in the northern Wisconsin city of Woodruff  (www.allied100.com) (www.AEDSuperstore.com).

“It’s a pretty remarkable story,” said Scott Poole, Partner at Ridgemont.  “Allied was founded in 2002 by Jon Dobbs and Ken Raupach, healthcare professionals who saw the need for enhanced emergency response solutions.  With 350,000 people dying every year from sudden cardiac arrest, they saw an enormous opportunity to save lives, increase workplace safety and create safer communities through the distribution of AEDs.  Twelve years later, Allied-sold AEDs have saved hundreds of lives.”

Ridgemont Equity Partners (formerly Banc of America Capital Investors) focuses on middle market buyout and growth equity investments of $25 million to $100 million. The firm invests in the following sectors: basic industries and services; energy; healthcare; and telecommunications/media/technology. Ridgemont Equity Partners is headquartered in Charlotte, NC (www.ridgemontep.com).

Financing for the transaction was provided by BMO Harris Bank, GE Capital Healthcare Financial Services and Fidus Investment Corporation (www.fdus.com).

Middle-market investment bank BlackArch Partners (www.blackarchpartners.com) was the exclusive financial advisor to Allied 100.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-3-14

New Partner at Shamrock Capital Advisors

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Shamrock Capital Advisors – a middle market media, entertainment and communications focused firm – has added Patrick Russo as a new partner.  Mr. Russo has over 20 years of experience within the media and entertainment sectors and he will focus his time on investments in those sectors with a particular emphasis on opportunities related to content.

“Patrick’s breadth and depth of experience serving the media and entertainment sectors is a perfect fit with our firm’s sector focused approach to private equity,” said Steve Royer, a Partner of Shamrock.  “His specific focus on content complements a number of interesting opportunities and trends that we are seeing in our markets.  We have known and worked with Patrick for almost 20 years and are excited to have him joining our partnership.”

Mr. Russo joins Shamrock from FTI Consulting where he co-managed the firm’s Valuation and Financial Advisory Services Group with a focus on entertainment and media.  He was also a co-founder of The Salter Group (acquired by FTI in 2012), a financial and strategic advisory firm that specialized in the entertainment and media industry.  Prior to the formation of The Salter Group, Mr. Russo served as Vice President of the media and entertainment groups at both Houlihan Lokey Howard and Zukin as well as at SG Cowen.  Russo graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University and earned his MBA from Fordham University.

“Shamrock is a terrific opportunity for me to leverage my experience in the media and entertainment sectors and work with one of the most respected firms in the industry,” said Mr. Russo.  “I look forward to working with the Shamrock team to find creative and interesting investment opportunities in the media and entertainment sectors.”

Shamrock Capital Advisors has over $700 million of capital under management and invests in the media, entertainment, and communications sectors. Originally founded in 1978 as the Roy E. Disney family investment company, Shamrock is currently investing out of Shamrock Capital Growth Fund III, a $400 million fund raised in 2011. Shamrock’s current investments include FanDuel, Giant Creative/Strategy, Isolation Network, Mobilitie, PGOA Media, Questex, Screenvision and T3 Media.  The firm is based in Los Angeles (www.shamrockcap.com).

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-3-14

GE Capital Backs Vista’s Buy of NAVEX Global

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GE Capital’s Telecom, Media and Technology financing group served as administrative agent on a $310 million senior secured credit facility to support Vista Equity Partners’ November acquisition of compliance and ethics software provider NAVEX Global.  GE Capital Markets was the co-lead arranger and co-bookrunner on the facility.

NAVEX Global is an ethics and compliance software and content provider.  NAVEX’s products provide organizations with a platform for managing ethics and compliance standards mandated by legislation such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, the UK Bribery Act, and numerous other regulations.  The company serves approximately 8,000 customers across the globe, including 50% of the Fortune 500 and 70% of the Fortune 100. NAVEX was founded in 1997 and is headquartered south of Portland in Lake Oswego, OR (www.navexglobal.com).

“NAVEX is a perfect example of increasing investor interest in business-to-business software and software enabled service providers who offer applications through subscription models,” said Raj Seth, managing director and technology analyst with GE Capital’s TMT business. “NAVEX is well-positioned as regulatory and compliance-related issues become increasingly critical across many industry segments.”

Vista Equity Partners has more than $13 billion in committed capital and makes equity investments in enterprise software businesses and technology-enabled services companies. The firm was founded in 2000 and has over 50 investment professionals operating out of San Francisco, Chicago and Austin (www.vistaequitypartners.com).

“GE Capital has strong capabilities in the technology sector. We value our collaborative financing relationship with them and appreciate their hard work in leading this transaction for us,” said Kevin Sofield, head of capital markets at Vista Equity Partners.

GE Capital’s Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) business provided more than $5.5 billion in financing in 2013 across 59 transactions. Sectors of interest include cable, towers, data centers, wireless, metro fiber, radio, TV, digital media, education services and software, and the related technologies that enable these industries (www.gecapital.com/tmt).

“In today’s complex world, companies are increasingly moving to software technology to help them manage compliance risk,” said Matthew Fleming, managing director with GE Capital’s TMT business. “We’re pleased to provide financing in support of Vista, a value-adding investor in the technology space, and NAVEX as they continue to innovate and grow.”

GE Capital’s TMT group has an extensive relationship with Vista. The group was also the administrative agent on $69 million of senior secured credit facilities to support the firm’s August 2014 acquisition of AGDATA, a provider of data and analytics to agricultural, crop protection and animal health manufacturers.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-3-14