Shorehill Capital has formed Ascent Lifting as a new platform to acquire sister companies Advantage Sales & Supply and Susquehanna Wire Rope & Rigging.
Both Advantage and Susquehanna are distributors and fabricators of lifting and rigging products including wire rope, chain, synthetic slings, cargo control, and rigging hardware. Advantage was founded in 1996 by Charlie and Kim Jaques, and the business acquired Susquehanna Wire Rope in 2009.
Ascent operates from four Pennsylvania locations with a headquarters facility located 110 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Ridgway, Pennsylvania. Post-closing, the Jaques family and other members of the senior management team will have equity interests in the new platform with Charlie Jaques as the company’s CEO and a member of its board of directors.
With the close of the transaction, Shorehill has installed rigging industry veteran Brett Woodland, the former managing director of Yarbrough Cable Service, a Memphis-based supplier of lifting and rigging equipment and a subsidiary of Certex (a division of Axel Johnson International), as Ascent’s new president; and Chris Ragot, a former board director of Columbus McKinnon, America’s largest supplier of motor control, radio controls, and automation systems for industrial cranes and hoists, as a member of Ascent’s board of directors.
“We are excited to partner with the Jaques and the rest of the management team in their continued pursuit of growth,” said Robert Jackson, a principal at Shorehill. “The company has an excellent reputation for supplying high-quality products and outstanding customer service and we look forward to continuing to expand upon these capabilities.”
Twin Brook Capital Partners was the administrative agent on debt financing to support Shorehill’s formation of Ascent Lifting. Chicago-based Twin Brook focuses on loans to private equity-owned companies with EBITDA between $3 million and $50 million, with an emphasis on companies with $25 million of EBITDA and below. The firm targets senior financing opportunities up to $200 million, with hold sizes across the platform ranging from $25 million up to $150 million. Twin Brook’s products include opportunistic investments in second lien, mezzanine, and equity co-investments.
Chicago-based Shorehill makes control investments in North American-based middle market companies that have from $3 million to $15 million in EBITDA. Sectors of interest include engineered industrial products, industrial services, and value-added distribution. The firm was founded in 2013 by its managing partners Brian Simmons and Dave Hawkins, both former senior executives of CHS Capital.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | October 7, 2022
