April 7, 2015
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Archives for April 7, 2015

Sun Capital Partners Sells American Recreation

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american rec nf2Kellwood Company, a portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners, has sold its subsidiary American Recreation Products to Exxel Outdoors.

American Recreation Products (American Rec) makes and markets outdoor gear including tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, outdoor clothing, outdoor furniture, and related camping accessories. American Rec’s family of brands includes Kelty, Sierra Designs, Slumberjack, Wenzel, Ultimate Direction, Mountain Trails, and Instabed. The company sells its products through sporting goods stores and outdoor specialty stores, as well as through the mail order and Internet channels.  American Rec is headquartered in Boulder, CO (www.americanrec.com).

Sun Capital Partners acquired American Rec in February 2008.  Sun invests in leveraged buyouts, equity, and debt in companies that can benefit from its in-house operating professionals and experience. Sun Capital has invested in and managed more than 335 companies worldwide with combined sales in excess of $45 billion since the firm’s inception in 1995. The firm has offices in Boca Raton, Los Angeles, and New York as well as affiliates with offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Shanghai and Shenzhen (www.SunCapPart.com).

Exxel, the buyer of American Rec, manufactures and markets family-style sleeping bags, tents, camping sets, air beds, folding chairs, beanbag chairs, water sports vests, and hunting & fishing apparel.  The company sells its products to  major retailers such as Target, Toys “R” Us, Amazon.com, Walmart and Kmart, as well as sporting goods chains such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabela’s, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Big 5 Sporting Goods, and Mills Fleet Farm. Brand names include four company brands – Suisse Sport, X20, American Trails, and Master Sportsman; licensed brands – Disney, Marvel, DC Comics, Hello Kitty, and Realtree; and other brands manufactured under private label.  Exxel Outdoors was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Angeles (www.exxel.com).

Investment bank Western Reserve Partners advised Exxel Outdoors on its acquisition of American Rec and its financing.  Senior debt will be provided by Wells Fargo Bank and mezzanine debt from Pathlight Capital.  Leading the transaction for Western Reserve was Managing Director Mark Filippell, Director Andrew Male and Vice President Courtney Downs.  Western Reserve Partners is headquartered in Cleveland (www.wesrespartners.com).

“The team at Western Reserve Partners worked hand-in-hand with us during every stage of this deal: approaching the seller, negotiating the purchase, securing the bank debt, securing the mezzanine debt, structuring the equity, and refining the legal documents,”  said Harry Kazazian, Chief Executive Officer at Exxel.  “They committed themselves 100% to our success.”

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-7-15

Tonka Bay Invests in NuSource

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nusource nf1Tonka Bay Equity Partners has made an investment in NuSource Financial, a provider of ATM services, equipment, and commercial security systems.  The acquisition of NuSource is Tonka Bay’s seventh platform company investment in Fund III.

NuSource has approximately 85 employees and provides its services to more than 600 financial institutions across 19 states.  The company was founded in 1999 by Jon Erpelding and Rod Beaver and is headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie (www.nusourcefinancial.com).

Jon Erpelding nf1Messrs. Erpelding and Beaver remain equity investors in NuSource and have partnered up with Tonka Bay to accelerate the growth of the company.  “Our team has a history of delivering high quality service to our customers and building long-term relationships,” said Mr. Erpelding.  “NuSource is positioned to continue its exciting growth trajectory and we feel Tonka Bay brings the same culture and also the resources to help us continue growing our business.”

Shane Slominski nf4“Jon and Rod have built a great services business and we look forward to working together to take advantage of the various growth opportunities ahead of us,” said Shane Slominski, Principal of Tonka Bay.

Tonka Bay Equity Partners invests in manufacturing, value-added distribution and business services companies with EBITDA greater than $2 million. The firm is based in the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka (www.tonkabayequity.com).

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-7-15

GE Antares backs Irving Place Buy of Bendon

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ge antares nf1GE Antares was the administrative agent on a $138 million senior secured credit facility to support the recent acquisition by Irving Place Capital of Bendon, a provider of non-licensed and licensed children’s coloring and activity products, from The Wicks Group.  GE Capital Markets served as joint lead arranger and joint bookrunner on this facility.

john howard nf4“GE Antares’ willingness to underwrite the full commitment and their large hold position made them an excellent financing partner on this transaction,” said John Howard, CEO of Irving Place Capital. “We continue to benefit from our relationships with the GE Antares team.”

Bendon is a designer and producer of children’s coloring and activity products.  The existing product portfolio includes coloring and activity books, kits, sets and play packs, puzzle books, box puzzles, and other early childhood development games.  By utilizing a licensed portfolio of the world’s most popular children’s characters and brands, Bendon sells more than 350 million units per year in more than 80,000 retail outlets in North America. The company was established in 2002 and is headquartered in Ashland, OH with five additional offices in the US (www.bendoninc.com).

Gina Provenzale nf1“A proven market leader, Bendon is a welcome addition to the GE Antares portfolio,” said Gina Provenzale, senior vice president of GE Antares. “Bendon’s longstanding relationships with their customers and product innovation position them for continued growth, organically and through acquisitions. We look forward to supporting management and Irving Place on this investment.”

GE Antares is a unit of GE Capital and has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, 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).

Irving Place Capital invests in buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital opportunities. The firm focuses on making control or entrepreneur-driven investments. Since its formation in 1997, Irving Place Capital has been an investor in 60 companies and manages over $4 billion, including its current $2.7 billion institutional fund. The firm is based in New York (www.irvingplacecapital.com).

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-7-15

Ken Hirsch Joins Blackhill Partners

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blackhill nf1Blackhill Partners, a Dallas-based investment bank that specializes in complex situations, has appointed Ken Hirsch as a Managing Director. In addition to advising clients on strategic and financial issues, Mr. Hirsch will also be responsible for leading the build-out of the firm’s capital raising practice.

Ken Hirsch nf1Mr. Hirsch has more than 30 years of investment and corporate banking experience and has a particular expertise in private placements of debt, equity and equity-linked securities for refinancings, recapitalizations, buyouts and growth financings.

“Ken brings to Blackhill a terrific ability to assist clients in developing prudent capital strategies, identifying the appropriate capital market to access and executing transactions at the high quality that Blackhill clients have come to expect.  His knowledge of the private capital markets and key investors is unparalleled,” said Jeff Jones, Managing Director of Blackhill Partners.

Previously, Mr. Hirsch co-founded and served as a Managing Director at Western Reserve Partners where he managed the firm’s capital raising practice and opened the firm’s Dallas regional office. Prior to founding Western Reserve Partners, he spent eight years as Managing Director at McDonald Investments, now KeyBanc Capital Markets, where he managed the Debt Capital Group.

During his career, Mr. Hirsch has originated and executed in excess of $2 billion of public and private debt and equity capital raising transactions, advised on numerous mergers and acquisitions transactions and undertaken a variety of strategic advisory assignments.  Notable clients and transactions include the recapitalization of Cimarron Energy by Lynx Partners, the sale of InterWrap to Quad-C Management, the sale of Quatech to Graham Partners and capital raising transactions for Gibraltar Corporation, TCP International, Lesco, and Fire-Dex.  Mr. Hirsch holds a BA in Economics from Kenyon College and MBA from the University of Chicago.

Blackhill Partners has served Fortune 500 and middle-market companies on over $100 billion of mergers, acquisitions, financings and restructurings across a broad range of industries. The firm has specific expertise in energy and industrial businesses. Blackhill Partners is headquartered in Dallas (www.bhpllc.com).

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 4-7-15

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