Franklin Square Capital Partners has provided a $150 million first lien secured term loan to Latham Pool Products, a manufacturer of in-ground residential swimming pools and components and a portfolio company of Littlejohn & Company since January of 2010 when the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The new financing was provided by FS Investment Corporation (NYSE: FSIC), FS Investment Corporation II (FSIC II) and FS Investment Corporation III (FSIC III); all business development companies (BDCs) managed by Franklin Square and sub-advised by GSO Capital Partners.
“The scale of our platform allows us to provide customized credit solutions to market leading companies like Latham,” said Michael Forman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FSIC, FSIC II and FSIC III. “We are pleased to work with Littlejohn and look forward to supporting Latham’s continued growth.”
Latham Pool Products manufactures in-ground and above ground vinyl liners, polymer and steel pool wall systems, fiberglass pools, steps, ladders, pool safety covers, automatic pool covers and a variety of other pool related accessories. The company has more than 4,000 customer accounts and operates 21 manufacturing facilities in the United States and Canada. Latham Pool Products was founded in 1956 and is headquartered north of Albany in Latham, NY (www.lathampool.com).
Under Littlejohn’s ownership Latham has been very acquisitive. In October 2014 the company acquired Pool Cover Specialists, one of its competitors in the automatic pool cover manufacturing market. This acquisition marked the fifth year in a row that the company had acquired one of its competitors. In 2010 the company acquired Blue Hawaiian Pools and Trilogy Pools, and in 2012 acquired Royal Fiberglass Pools. In 2013 Latham purchased Plastimayd, a maker of vinyl liners and safety covers.
“Franklin Square and GSO provided a single source of financing for our company,” said Mark Laven, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Latham Pool Products. “With financial backing from Franklin Square and GSO and the continued support of Littlejohn, Latham is in a strong position to continue to serve our clients.”
Franklin Square, headquartered in Philadelphia, is a manager of alternative investment funds. As of March 31, 2015, the firm managed approximately $15.7 billion in total assets, including $14.5 billion in BDC assets (www.franklinsquare.com).
Littlejohn & Co. makes control and non-control investments in middle-market companies that are undergoing a fundamental change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth. Littlejohn invests in middle market companies with annual revenues typically between $100 million and $800 million, and generally invests $50 to $150 million of equity in its transactions. The firm invests across a range of industries and acquires manufacturers, distributors, and service providers. Littlejohn is currently investing from Littlejohn Fund V which has over $2 billion in capital commitments. The firm is based in Greenwich, CT (www.littlejohnllc.com).
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-1-15
