Archives for July 8, 2019

Saw Mill Acquires Let’s Pave

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Saw Mill Capital has acquired Let’s Pave in partnership with the company’s management team who will retain significant ownership and continue to lead the business going forward.

Let’s Pave is a national provider of outsourced parking lot maintenance and repair services to multi-location commercial and industrial property owners through a network of preferred, local paving partners. The company’s services include pavement planning, contractor procurement, and project management. Let’s Pave, led by CEO C.B. Kuzlik, is headquartered near Chicago in Oak Brook, IL (www.letspave.com).

“Our partnership with Saw Mill Capital represents a great step forward for Let’s Pave,” said Mr. Kuzlik. “The Saw Mill team brings significant facilities maintenance expertise, actionable strategic account relationships, and a strong suite of research, technology and resources to support Let’s Pave’s continued growth. We are excited to find a partner that shares our vision and commitment to delivering the highest quality parking lot maintenance service and creating significant value for our customers.”

“We are excited to partner with Let’s Pave to accelerate the penetration of the company’s innovative business model across the U.S.,” said Tim Nelson, a partner at Saw Mill Capital.  “Let’s Pave’s leadership team has built an impressive organization and extensive network of local paving partners over a short period, and we look forward to partnering with the company in realizing its growth potential.”

Abacus Finance Group served as administrative agent and sole lead arranger for senior secured credit facilities to support the buy of Let’s Pave by Saw Mill. “From our perspective, this financing went very smoothly and efficiently,” added Mr. Nelson. “Everything was completed on schedule, we received early assurance of closure, and the Abacus team proved to be responsive, flexible, and easy to work with.”

“This was our first investment with Saw Mill Capital,” said Tim Clifford, president and CEO of Abacus, “and we were very impressed with their level of due diligence and unique in-house research capabilities. As Tim indicated, they appreciated our ability to move quickly – an important aspect of Making Life Easier™ through our Total Partnership Approach™.”  Abacus team members leading the transaction included Aized Rabbani and Brian Green.

Abacus provides cash flow-based senior financing to private equity-sponsored, lower-middle market companies that have EBITDA between $3 million and $15 million. Debt facilities can be as large as $75 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $40 million.  Since its inception in June 2011, Abacus has closed over $2 billion in financings. Abacus is headquartered in New York and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust (www.abacusfinance.com).

Saw Mill invests in North American-based manufacturing, industrial and commercial services, and specialty distribution businesses with $25 million to $200 million of revenues and $5 million to $25 million of EBITDA. The firm was founded in 1997 and is headquartered north of New York City in Briarcliff Manor, NY (www.sawmillcapital.com).

The buy of Let’s Pave is the firm’s fifth investment for its most recent private equity fund, Saw Mill Capital Partners II LP, which closed in July 2017 with an above-target $340 million in capital commitments.

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | July 8, 2019

O2 Invests in Frontier Dental Laboratories

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O2 Investment Partners has acquired Frontier Dental Laboratories, a maker of dental prosthetics.

Frontier Dental Laboratories is a full service, multi-site dental laboratory that provides high-end dental prosthetics, removable dental products and implants primarily for the cosmetic dentistry industry. The company’s products include full arch and multi-unit anterior crowns and bridges, veneers, single and multi-posterior crown and bridges, as well as single unit and full mouth implants.

Frontier has more than 500 customers, primarily private practices, and is led by President Brent West, and VP of Sales and Marketing Gil Villavecer. The company operates through two dental laboratories in El Dorado Hills, CA and Vancouver, BC (www.frontierdentallab.com).

The investment by O2 will be used to expand the company’s product and services, increase its technological capabilities, and to grow its customer base. “Brent, Gil and the team at Frontier have been at the top of their game for decades. Our job is to continue to support their vision for that business,” said Luke Plumpton, a partner at O2. “The newest technology, more employees, whatever needs to be done to increase their already incredible level of customer service and increased customer demand, that’s what that team wants to do. And we’re behind them 100%.”

“Our marketing capabilities combined with our world-class products and strong customer service focus have allowed Frontier to rapidly expand over the past several years,” said Mr. West. “We brought in O2 as a financial backer to help support our growth objectives and continue bringing Frontier’s product and service capabilities to our customers. We have built strong and lasting relationships with our existing customers and would like to hire additional support to offer the same level of service and expertise to new customers. We also have an aggressive plan to expand our production capabilities to serve the growing needs of our existing and new clients, and we wanted a financial partner like O2 to support us in doing that.”

O2 makes control investments of $5 million to $75 million in companies with EBITDAs from $2 million to $10 million located anywhere in the US and Canada but prefers the Midwest and the Great Lakes regions. Sectors of interest include niche manufacturing, niche distribution, select service businesses, and certain technology businesses. In October 2017, the firm held a final closing of its Oxygen Fund with an above-target $100 million of capital commitments. O2, based in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, is backed by the Orley family which has been investing in operating businesses and real estate since 1950 (www.o2investment.com).

“There is a tremendous opportunity for growth during the next decade in this industry, and we intend to be at the forefront of that market expansion with our technological leadership, marketing and focus on customer service,” said Mr. Villavecer. “We are confident O2 is the right partner to help support us in achieving our goals for the future and we look forward to a rewarding partnership.”

The investment in Frontier is O2’s fifth investment in the first half of 2019 and currently the firm has six additional transactions under letter of intent. This activity may make 2019 O2’s most active year since its founding in 2010.

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | July 8, 2019

Platform Buys Perrin Manufacturing

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Platform Capital has acquired Perrin Manufacturing including its subsidiaries Dynasys and Tridako Energy Systems.

Perrin Manufacturing designs, tests and builds HVAC and auxiliary power systems for off-road, heavy-duty vehicles. The company’s heating and cooling systems are used in earth movers, skid steers, tree mulchers, broom sweepers, tractors, sprayers, road pavers, loaders, road graders and other large off-road vehicles. Perrin is led by CEO Dan Koch and has a 40,000 square foot facility in Alliance, NE (www.perrinmfg.com) (www.dynasysapu.com) (www.powercubeapu.com).

“The team at Platform Capital brings resources to help take Perrin to the next level,” said Mr. Koch. “They have been a true partner working side by side with our team from the initial call all the way through closing. I am very excited about the future of Perrin as we head into our next phase.”

“The Platform Capital team is very excited about combining our finance, operational and business development expertise with the history of engineering, design and manufacturing excellence at Perrin. The timing is right for our partnership to pursue aggressive growth across the over the road and off-road auxiliary power and HVAC industries. Our products and timing align well with the challenges facing over the road and off-road auxiliary power and HVAC industries trying to manage rising operating costs,” said Jake Walker, a partner of Platform Capital.

Platform Capital is an operationally-focused private equity firm that makes control-equity investments in both performing and underperforming companies that have revenues from $3 million to $75 million. The firm’s current portfolio consists of companies across the waste, trucking, energy, manufacturing, distribution, specialty finance and agricultural industries with sales ranging from $5 million to $20 million.

“Platform Capital is opportunistic with a situational approach to investing. We invest in industries and real estate that other investment firms may not be able to consider. Our ability to think creatively on a deal-by-deal basis has proven to be a core strength of our firm,” said managing partner Brian Burns.

Platform Capital was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Denver (www.platformcap.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | July 8, 2019

Tree Line Backs Alpine’s Ingenio

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 Tree Line Capital Partners was the lead arranger and administrative agent for an $82.3 million first lien credit facility for Ingenio, a portfolio company of Alpine Investors.

Ingenio is an online platform that connects advice-seekers with coaches and advisors. Since founding, the Ingenio platform has enabled over 40 million phone, chat, and web–based personal advice conversations.The company’s brands include Keen.com (personal advice); PsychicCenter.com (a community of astrologers, tarot readers, and clairvoyants); LiveAdvice.com (life-coaching, relationship coaching, and career advice); Ether.com (provides phone and email monetization tools to advice providers); Horoscope.com, Astrology.com, Horoscopo.com and AstroCenter.com (free horoscopes, paid astrological reports, games, and content).

Ingenio was founded in 1999 and was acquired by AT&T in 2007. It was acquired by Alpine Investors from AT&T in May 2013 and in July 2015 Ingenio acquired Horoscope.com. The company, led by CEO Warren Heffelfinger, has 80 employees and is headquartered in San Francisco (www.ingenio.com).

“We have enjoyed building a lasting relationship with the Tree Line team over the past six years across several transactions,” said Mr. Heffelfinger. “They have always been receptive to our needs and have responded with creative structures delivered in very efficient processes.”

“We have been extremely pleased with Ingenio’s strong performance and the long-term partnership we’ve built,” said Tom Quimby, a managing partner of Tree Line. “Our relationship with Ingenio is a great example of our ability to grow with a borrower from initial platform acquisition through various stages of growth.  Warren and the team have built a best in class organization and we look forward to working with them in the years ahead.”

Tree Line is a direct lender focused on providing first lien term loans, unitranche term loans and equity co-investments to North American-based lower middle market companies with $3 million to $30 million of EBITDA. The firm currently manages $1.2 billion in investable capital and has completed over 75 transactions for acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings, expansion projects and other growth capital needs. Tree Line is headquartered in San Francisco with an additional office in New York (www.treelinecp.com).

Alpine invests in US or Canadian based software and services companies that have from $1 million to $30 million of EBITDA. The firm was founded in 2001 and is based in San Francisco (www.alpine-investors.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | July 8, 2019