Corinthian Capital has acquired Best Lighting Products from Wafra Partners, which acquired the company in August 2006.
Best Lighting is one of the largest designers and manufacturers of private-label emergency and exit lighting products in the United States. The company sells its products primarily to manufacturers and OEMs in the commercial, industrial, and institutional lighting industries. Best Lighting is led by its CEO Jeffrey Katz and is headquartered east of Columbus in Pataskala, OH. The company also operates a manufacturing facility in Dongguan, China (www.bestlighting.net).
“We are excited to partner with Best Lighting and its management team in order to leverage the company’s leading position and further grow the business,” said Peter Van Raalte, CEO and President of Corinthian Capital.
Corinthian Capital targets investments in niche manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses with EBITDA between $10 million and $30 million, located primarily in North America. The firm is based in New York with additional offices located in Chicago and Boston (www.corinthiancap.com).
Financing for the transaction was provided by Fifth Third Bank (www.53.com), Bank of Montreal (www.bmo.com) and RGA Reinsurance Company (www.rgare.com). Alvarez & Marsal Transaction Advisory Group (www.alvarezandmarsal.com) provided accounting advice to Corinthian Capital in the transaction. Best Lighting was advised by Duff & Phelps Securities (www.duffandphelps.com).
Wafra, the seller of Best Lighting, invests up to $30 million of equity per transaction in middle-market companies based in North America that have enterprise values between $20 million and $150 million. Typical investments have revenue of $20 million or more and EBITDA of $4 million or more. Sectors of interest include consumer products, consumer-driven services, outsourced business services and niche manufacturing. The firm is based in New York (www.wafrapartners.com).
“Working with Wafra Partners has been a great experience. They provided management with the financial and strategic support necessary to help us achieve our goals. We are now in a position to further accelerate growth with the help and resources of our new partners,” said Mr. Katz.
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 8-13-15