Golub Capital has provided a $355 million facility to support the refinancing of National Technical Systems, a portfolio company of Aurora Capital Group. Aurora took publicly-traded National Technical Systems private in November 2013.
National Technical Systems (NTS) is a provider of environmental simulation testing, inspection, and certification services to the civil aviation, space, defense, nuclear, and telecommunications end markets. NTS is led by Bill McGinnis, President and CEO. The company was founded in 1961 and is based in Calabasas, CA (www.nts.com).
Golub Capital provided $193 million of debt to support Aurora’s acquisition of NTS in 2013. This facility grew to $243 million as Golub provided additional financing to support the company’s acquisition program. The new $355 million facility replaces the company’s existing financing and will provide NTS with additional debt capacity to pursue add-on acquisitions. Golub Capital acted as the Administrative Agent, Sole Lead Arranger, and Sole Bookrunner on this refinancing.
“Our capital commitment to NTS has increased significantly since we first became involved in 2013,” said Troy Oder, Managing Director of Golub Capital. “This commitment reflects our views on the strength of the company’s management team, NTS’ growth prospects, and Aurora’s support of the platform.”
“Golub has been a consistent and reliable growth partner throughout our investment in NTS,” said Michael Marino, Partner at Aurora. “We have been impressed with Golub’s flexible and scalable solutions in support of the NTS’ acquisition strategy, and we look forward to further expanding our relationship in the future.”
Golub offers buy-and-hold products ranging from $10 million to $75 million and includes one-loan financings, senior, 2nd lien and subordinated debt, preferred stock and co-investment equity. The firm underwrites and syndicates loans up to $500 million and will hold up to $300 million per transaction. Industries of interest include consumer products, business and consumer services, defense, manufacturing, value-added distribution, media, healthcare services and restaurants. Golub has offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco (www.golubcapital.com).
Aurora Capital makes control investments in middle-market industrial, manufacturing and service oriented businesses. The firm was founded in 1991 and has $2 billion of capital under management. Aurora Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles (www.auroracap.com).
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-25-15
