Financing

Monroe Capital has sponsored its third special purpose acquisition company since 2018 with the launch of MCAP Acquisition Corporation.

Monroe’s MCAP will look to combine with any business that is active in any industry or sector, but it has a specific interest in software, technology-enabled, and business services companies. MCAP priced its initial public offering of 27,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 and it began trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol MACQU on February 26, 2021.

MCAP is the third SPAC that Monroe has participated in as a sponsor investor. In 2018, Monroe co-sponsored Thunder Bridge Acquisition and supported its later combination with Repay Holdings (NASDAQ: RPAY), a Georgia-based provider of financial technology and payment processing services. In 2019, Monroe co-sponsored Thunder Bridge Acquisition II, which in December 2020 agreed to merge with Indie Semiconductor, a California-based supplier of sensors used in driver assistance systems (including LiDAR) for electric and autonomous vehicles. The merger with Indie is expected to be completed in early Spring 2021.

MCAP is led by CEO and Chairman Theodore Koenig, who is the founder and CEO of Monroe Capital.

“We are excited to offer a SPAC as another vehicle for Monroe’s investment platform,” said Mr. Koenig. “It will offer a different and compelling way for our clients to go public versus a traditional IPO. The SPAC will offer non-control, minority investment for a company looking to fund growth and acquisitions.”

Monroe Capital (NASDAQ: MRCC) is an active provider of senior and junior debt financing to middle-market businesses, special situation borrowers and private equity sponsors. Investment types include unitranche financings; cash flow, asset-based and enterprise value-based loans; and equity co-investments. The firm was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

© 2021 Private Equity Professional | March 2, 2021

Lower middle-market lender Tree Line Capital Partners has backed Longshore Capital Partners’ acquisition of Gen3 Marketing from LaSalle Capital.

Gen3 is a provider of digital marketing services, including pay-per-click, search engine optimization, and social media. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered near Philadelphia in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

Longshore was formed in 2020 by LaSalle Capital professionals Ryan Anthony and Nicholas Christopher and closed its debut fund, Longshore Capital Fund I LP, with capital commitments of $203 million last August. In tandem with the closing of the new fund, Longshore acquired a controlling interest in Gen3 Marketing and four other business services companies from LaSalle (LaSalle acquired Gen3 in December 2017).

Tree Line provided a first lien credit facility to support Longshore’s buy of Gen3. “We have enjoyed building a lasting relationship with the Tree Line team and chose to work with Tree Line given the certainty to close they provided through an uncertain COVID-19 deal environment,” said Mr. Anthony. “Gen3 was one of the first platform investments in our inaugural Longshore fund and certainty to close was paramount. Tree Line moved quickly and spoke with confidence.”

“This transaction is a great example of our relationship-driven approach to direct lending,” said Stephan Schneck, a senior vice president of Tree Line. “Having completed past transactions with the Longshore team, we were able to leverage existing documentation and streamline the closing process. We recognize the value generated from buy and build strategies and are well equipped to execute these deals over a long relationship given our significant follow-on capital capacity.”

Tree Line provides first lien term loans, unitranche term loans, and equity co-investments to North America-based lower middle market companies that have EBITDA from $3 million to $30 million and transaction sizes up to $150 million. The firm has extensive direct lending experience – it has completed more than 110 transactions – across multiple economic cycles and has generated significant repeat investment opportunities from private equity sponsors. Tree Line is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Austin.

Chicago-headquartered Longshore makes control investments in North America-based companies with $5 million to $15 million of EBITDA. Sectors of interest include business process outsourcing, revenue cycle management, and managed services and payments.

© 2020 Private Equity Professional | November 2, 2020

Tree Line Capital Partners and CVC Credit Partners have provided an increase to their existing credit facility to Ingenio, a portfolio company of Alpine Investors.

With the new increase, used to support an add-on acquisition which closed in August, the Tree Line /CVC Credit facility with Ingenio now totals $127 million. Tree Line was the Administrative Agent and Lead Arranger on the transaction.

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 from AT&T in May 2013, and in July 2015 Ingenio completed the add-on acquisition of Horoscope.com. The company, led by CEO Warren Heffelfinger, is headquartered in San Francisco.

“We have enjoyed building a lasting relationship with the Tree Line and CVC Credit teams across several transactions,” said Mr. Heffelfinger. “They have reliably answered the call when it has come to additional capacity for add-on acquisitions coupled with a creative approach to tailoring debt structures to a transaction’s requirements.”

“We have been extremely pleased with Ingenio’s strong performance and the long-term partnership we’ve built since 2015,” said Frank Cupido, a partner at 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 and capital needs, including acquisitions, recapitalizations and other flexible financings.  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 provides first lien term loans, unitranche term loans, and equity co-investments to North America-based lower middle market companies that have EBITDA from $3 million to $30 million and transaction sizes up to $150 million. The firm has extensive direct lending experience – it has completed more than 110 transactions – across multiple economic cycles and has generated significant repeat investment opportunities from private equity sponsors. Tree Line is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Austin.

CVC Credit Partners, the credit strategy arm of private equity firm CVC, invests in senior secured loans to middle-market companies that have EBITDA from $10 million to $40 million. The credit group has offices in New York City and London and manages $26 billion of assets.

San Francisco-based Alpine invests in control buyouts, majority recapitalizations, and corporate carve-outs of recurring revenue software and services businesses, with enterprise values from $5 million to $400 million and EBITDA of $1 million to $40 million. In November 2019, the firm held a hard cap close of Alpine Investors VII LP with $1 billion in limited partner capital commitments. The new fund was oversubscribed and handily beat its original target of $750 million.

Private Equity Professional | October 2, 2020

Monroe Capital provided financing for last month’s buy of GPI Prototype & Manufacturing by Midwest Composite Technologies (MCT), a portfolio company of CORE Industrial Partners.

Monroe is an active provider of senior and junior debt financing to middle-market businesses, special situation borrowers and private equity sponsors. Investment types include unitranche financings; cash flow, asset-based and enterprise value based loans; and equity co-investments. The firm is a frequent provider of debt to CORE for its industrial acquisitions, and it provided an increase to an existing debt facility which was used to finance CORE’s original buy of Wisconsin-based MCT in September 2018.

CORE has been actively assembling a 3D prototyping and low-volume production services platform since acquiring MCT. The company’s technical capabilities include laser sintering, poly-jet printing, stereolithography, multi-jet fusion technologies, CNC machining, and injection molding. Customers of MCT are active in the medical, aerospace, research & development, consumer, and industrial end markets.

Companies like MCT are part of “Industry 4.0” which refers to the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. The goal of Industry 4.0 is the creation of “smart factories” that utilize cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution.

In December 2019, MCT acquired ICOMold, an Ohio-based custom plastic injection molder and a provider of CNC machining services. A second add-on was closed by MCT in September 2019 with the buy of FATHOM, a California-based manufacturer with an expertise in 3D printing and additive manufacturing.

GPI Prototype & Manufacturing, MCT’s latest add-on, uses direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) – a process that employs a high powered laser to melt and fuse metallic powders together – to print parts with complex geometries for on-demand manufacturing applications. The company has capabilities with a range of metal powders, including aluminum, steel and stainless steel, titanium, Inconel (a nickel-chromium-based alloy) and cobalt chrome.

Customers of GPI include numerous Fortune 500 companies operating in the medical, aerospace and defense sectors. The company, led by President Adam Galloway, was founded in 2007 and is headquartered north of Chicago in Lake Bluff, Illinois.

With MCT’s buy of GPI, CORE has placed all four of its Industry 4.0 companies – MCT, ICOMold, FATHOM and GPI – under the FATHOM brand. The combined company now has 100 large-platform industrial-grade 3D printing machines and a national footprint with over 200,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity across five facilities.

Monroe Capital (NASDAQ: MRCC) was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

Chicago-based CORE makes control investments in companies that have revenues of up to $200 million, EBITDA of up to $20 million, and enterprise values up to $150 million.

Private Equity Professional | September 3, 2020

Innovative Office Products, a portfolio company of Cathay Capital Private Equity, has acquired SiS Ergo with backing from TCF Capital Funding. TCF provided just over $80 million of secured financing and was the sole lead arranger and administrative agent.

Innovative Office Products (IOP) is a designer and manufacturer of ergonomic products including monitor, tablet, sit-stand mounting systems, and height-adjustable desks that are used in office, healthcare, and other specialty workspaces.

IOP was acquired by Cathay in January 2018. In June 2018, IOP acquired San Jose, California-based HAT Contract, a designer, contract manufacturer and distributor of open space office products including height-adjustable tables, power and data beams, drawer pedestals, dividers and electrical components for benching and bases.

The buy of SiS Ergo adds a new brand to IOP’s other company-owned brands including Innovative, HAT Contract, Ergotech, and CompuCaddy.

IOP, founded in 1986, and has over 200 employees working in the US with a headquarters located 77 miles north of Philadelphia in Easton, Pennsylvania.

SiS Ergo is a manufacturer of electric and non-electric height-adjustable tables with Danish-inspired modern and minimalistic aesthetics. The company was founded in 1966 and introduced the first height adjustable desk in 1970. SiS Ergo is headquartered in Rudkøbing, Denmark and has an additional facility in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

“Innovative, HAT, and SiS Ergo have built strong brands by providing quality ergonomic solutions across many markets,” said Kevin Nowak, senior vice president at TCF Capital Funding. “We are excited to provide additional financing to support Cathay Capital’s and Innovative’s strategic plan through the acquisition of Sis Ergo. SiS Ergo’s customized product solutions enhances Innovative’s suite of product solutions and we believe this partnership will result in the company’s accelerated global expansion.”

TCF Capital Funding is a provider of cash flow-based loans to lower middle-market businesses that have from $10 million to $150 million in revenue and from $2 million and $15 million in EBITDA. TCF Capital Funding actively supports private equity sponsors and family offices in their acquisition or recapitalization of these lower middle-market companies.

In addition to Cathay Capital, the shareholders of IOP include members of its senior management team, Norwest Mezzanine Partners, and ORIX Private Equity.

Cathay Capital was founded in 2007 and has completed over 140 buyouts, growth and venture capital investments and manages more than $3.8 billion of assets. The firm invests from $25 million to $75 million in control and minority positions. Sectors of interest include consumer products and services, business and digital services, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing sectors.

In May 2020, Cathay Capital closed its latest fund, Cathay Capital Midcap II LP, with $850 million of capital. Midcap II is the firm’s largest fund to date and an increase of $325 million over its Midcap I fund, which closed in 2014.

Cathay Capital has more than 100 employees with offices in Paris, Shanghai, Beijing, New York, San Francisco, Munich, Tel Aviv, and Singapore.

Private Equity Professional | August 21, 2020

Yukon Partners was the provider of mezzanine debt to back Industrial Opportunity Partners’ recent buy of Midwest Recycled and Coated Containerboard Mill (DBA Midwest Paper).

Midwest Paper manufactures and distributes various grades of paper including recycled containerboard (medium and linerboard) for corrugated packaging, recycled bag products, and white paper for book publishing and printing/writing applications.

Midwest Paper looks to be a successful turnaround story. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered southwest of Green Bay in Combined Locks, Wisconsin. In 2014, the underperforming paper mill was slated for closing by its owner, French paper company Sequana.

Undeterred, ten members of the mill’s management team formed a new company, Appleton Coated, and acquired the mill. However, profitable operations of the mill continued to be elusive and in September 2017, Appleton Coated’s lender, PNC Bank, sent it into receivership, leading to the mill’s shutdown and the layoff of its 600 employees. In October 2017, the mill was sold to Industrial Assets and Maynard Industries, two industrial auction and liquidation firms. Remarkably, after just 60 days without a buyer for the assets of the mill, the management team of Appleton Coated convinced the liquidators to run the business under a turnaround strategy that focused on brown papers – recycled containerboard for corrugated packaging – and Midwest Paper was born.

Today, the company is profitable with all three of its paper machines (two on brown paper, one on white paper) in operation, and the company has an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons and has rehired more than 320 of its employees.

“We are excited to partner with IOP and the Midwest Paper team,” said Michael Hall, a managing partner of Yukon. “Midwest Paper’s broad production capabilities and strong customer relationships position the company to capitalize on numerous growth opportunities. IOP’s operationally-focused strategy will enable Midwest Paper to continue to enhance its operations and better serve its customer base.”

Yukon Partners makes subordinated debt and equity investments of $10 million to $50 million in middle-market, private equity sponsored business transactions including buyouts, growth and platform strategies, recapitalizations, mergers and acquisitions, and public-to-private buyouts.  Yukon Partners has offices in Minneapolis and Boston.

Since its inception in 2008, Yukon has raised over $1.2 billion in capital across its three funds. The firm’s third fund, Yukon Capital Partners III LP (and associated funds), closed in November 2017 at its hard cap of $559 million.

IOP focuses on acquiring middle-market manufacturing and value-added distribution businesses, typically with revenues between $30 million and $400 million. The firm targets businesses with strong product, customer, and market positions and provides both management and operational resources to support sales growth and operational improvements. IOP is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Evanston.

© 2020 Private Equity Professional | January 17, 2020

Abacus Finance Group was the administrative agent and lead arranger for $15 million in senior secured credit facilities to support the recapitalization of Specialty Appliances by Five Points Capital. Abacus also made an equity co-investment in Specialty Appliances.

Specialty Appliances is a designer and manufacturer of more than 100 types of customized orthodontic appliances.

The company’s principal product lines are Herbst appliances, used most often to correct overbites in growing children; Digital Indirect Bonding Services, which increase an orthodontist’s accuracy when applying traditional braces; Clear Image Aligners, used for easy-to-moderate orthodontic corrections; and a range of other customized fixed metal, fixed expansion, and molar distalization appliances (used to move molars). Specialty Appliances was founded in 1981 by CEO Scott Huge and is headquartered northeast of Atlanta in Cumming, Georgia.

“This was our first transaction with Abacus, and we were impressed how smoothly, efficiently, and on time the whole process went,” said Marshall White, a partner at Five Points.

Abacus Finance provides cash flow-based senior financing to private equity and family office-sponsored, lower-middle market companies that have EBITDA between $3 million and $15 million. Debt facilities can be as large as $50 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $40 million

“Although, as Marshall noted, it was our initial transaction with Five Points, we have known members of the firm for many years. As I expected, they proved to be an excellent partner and easy to work with,” said Tim Clifford, president and CEO of Abacus. Other Abacus team members involved in the buy of Specialty Appliances included Director Eric Petersen and Analyst Austin Rendell.

“Five Points’ level of due diligence was impressive and made our underwriting and documentation flow smoothly,” said Mr. Petersen, “and were able to act quickly – an important aspect of being able to Count on Us™ thanks to our Total Partnership Approach™.” The firm’s Total Partnership Approach refers its focus on relationships not just transactions and includes its cash-flow financing expertise, deep industry knowledge, and a commitment to exceptional client service, including swift response times, over the lifecycle of each investment.

Five Points Capital (formerly known as BB&T Capital Partners) invests from $5 million to $25 million of equity and subordinated debt in lower middle market companies that have EBITDA of $3 million or greater. The firm’s transaction types include buyout, acquisition, growth, and recapitalization transactions as a control investor on a standalone basis, or as a co-investor with other financial sponsors.  Sectors of interest include business, healthcare and industrial services; niche manufacturing; and value-added distribution. Five Points is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

“The Abacus team was responsive, flexible, easy to work with, and knew the company,” added Steele Windle, a vice president at Five Points.

Since its founding in June 2011, Abacus has closed over $2 billion in financings. The firm is headquartered in New York and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust.

© 2020 Private Equity Professional | January 15, 2020

Twin Brook Capital Partners, the middle-market direct lending subsidiary of Angelo Gordon, today announced that it has committed over $3.3 billion to private equity sponsors in support of healthcare transactions, including over $1.3 billion last year alone.

In 2019, Twin Brook closed 24 healthcare transactions across 14 subsectors, bringing the firm’s total number of healthcare transactions closed to more than 80 since its inception in the fourth quarter of 2014. Twin Brook served as lead agent on all the healthcare transactions it supported in 2019, which included 14 new platform financings and 10 add-on financings.

“We achieved increased momentum in 2019, putting over $1.3 billion to work in support of our private equity clients’ investments across a broad range of healthcare subsectors,” said Faraaz Kamran, a senior partner at Twin Brook who focuses on the firm’s healthcare lending business. “In addition, we successfully closed our twentieth physician practice management platform and further enhanced our team’s healthcare expertise with the addition of Tim Wentink. Our private equity sponsor clients continue to be very active in this space, and we look forward to providing the capital needed to support their transactions in 2020 and beyond.”

Mr. Kamran joined Twin Brook in January 2016 after spending more than eight years at Madison Capital where he led the firm’s healthcare leveraged finance team. Similarly, Mr. Wentink joined Twin Brook in April 2019 after spending more than eleven years at Madison Capital, where he was a managing director on its healthcare leveraged finance team.

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 $400 million with hold sizes across the Twin Brook platform ranging from $25 million up to $150 million. Since founding in the fourth quarter of 2014, Twin Brook has closed over 425 transactions and provided total arranged commitments of approximately $12.5 billion.

Angelo, Gordon & Co., Twin Brook’s parent company, is an alternative investor with a focus on credit, real estate, private equity, and other strategies. The firm, founded in November 1988, currently manages approximately $36 billion in capital and has over 500 employees, including 200 investment professionals. Angelo Gordon is headquartered in New York City with additional offices across the US, Europe and Asia.

In June 2019, Angelo, Gordon & Co. closed AG Direct Lending Fund III LP with $2.75 billion in equity commitments. The new fund, which is managed by Twin Brook, closed above its $2 billion target and is the firm’s largest direct lending fund to date. Twin Brook’s earlier fund, AG Direct Lending Fund II LP, closed in 2017 with a total of $2.3 billion in equity capital.

© 2020 Private Equity Professional | January 9, 2020

Varagon Capital Partners, a lender to middle-market companies, has entered into a new partnership agreement with Aflac Global Investments and has extended its existing partnership agreement with American International Group (AIG).

Varagon was formed in June 2014, backed by AIG and certain partners and affiliates of Oak Hill Capital Management as a direct lender to middle-market companies, and launched at that time with a $1.5 billion investment commitment from AIG.

Varagon provides debt financing to middle-market companies that have from $10 million to $75 million of EBITDA. Product types include revolving credit facilities, first-lien and senior debt, unitranche and senior stretch, second-lien loans, junior capital and mezzanine debt. The firm has a hold size of up to $400 million and invests across a wide range of industries.

Today, it was announced that Varagon provided a senior secured credit facility to Easy Ice to support its acquisition by Freeman Spogli. Varagon served as Administrative Agent and Joint Lead Arranger on this transaction. Easy Ice, co-headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and Marquette, Michigan, is an outsourced provider of commercial ice machines and offers a national subscription service that includes installation, cleaning, preventive maintenance, repairs, backup ice, and peak demand ice. Easy Ice services more than 25,000 ice makers across 47 states.

Another recently closed transaction by Varagon was a senior secured credit facility to AIM MRO to support its acquisition by AE Industrial Partners. Varagon served as the Administrative Agent, Lead Arranger and Bookrunner on this transaction. AIM MRO is a Miamiville, Ohio-based manufacturer and supply chain manager of repair products and materials used primarily in the aerospace engine aftermarket.

Since founding in 2014, Varagon has made over $14.5 billion of financing commitments to over 180 companies. The firm is headquartered in New York City with additional offices in Fort Worth and Chicago.

Varagon is led by CEO Walter Owens and it will continue to operate as an independent company with no changes to its strategy, investment philosophy, management team, or day-to-day operations. Mr. Owens, prior to joining Varagon at its formation, previously held leadership positions at GE Capital, CIT Group, and TD Bank.

“We are excited to welcome Aflac as a new partner and to continue our strategic relationship with AIG,” said Mr. Owens. “These long-term commitments from two world-class insurers provide access to substantial capital, enhance Varagon’s capabilities to serve investors and borrowers, and accelerate the execution of our strategic growth objectives. We appreciate Aflac’s recognition of Varagon’s capabilities as a leading middle-market asset manager and we look forward to a successful partnership.”

According to the terms of the new partnership agreement, Aflac will make a multi-year investment commitment of up to $3 billion to Varagon to invest in middle-market loans and Aflac is acquiring the equity interests in Varagon currently held by current and former partners and affiliates of Oak Hill. The transaction will not reduce the ownership of Varagon held by its management team or AIG, and upon closing (expected by the end of the first quarter) Aflac and AIG will hold equal noncontrolling minority ownership stakes in Varagon.

“Middle-market credit is a strategically important asset class for Aflac, and we are excited to partner with Varagon,” said Eric Kirsch, executive vice president of Aflac. “Varagon’s rigorous investment underwriting process and proven origination capabilities directly align with Aflac’s strategy of partnering with high-quality asset managers.”

Aflac Global Investments is an asset management subsidiary of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL), an American insurance company and the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered 100 miles south of Atlanta in Columbus, Georgia. Aflac Global Investments manages more than $120 billion in assets and has 125 investment and support professionals who work at its offices in New York City and Tokyo.

“As a long-term investor with a focus on credit discipline, we see an attractive opportunity in middle market credit and are pleased to continue our partnership with the Varagon team,” said Geoffrey Cornell, deputy chief investment officer of AIG Investments. “We are proud to have been an early backer of Varagon and we are looking forward to Aflac joining our strategic partnership to jointly support Varagon’s continued growth.”

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York City and has more than 56,000 employees.

Wells Fargo Securities was the financial advisor to Varagon and Rothschild & Co was the financial advisor to Aflac.

© 2020 Private Equity Professional | January 9, 2020

Abacus Finance Group was the administrative agent and sole lender for senior secured credit facilities that backed the recent buy of Kason Corporation by May River Capital.

To complete the buy of Kason, May River formed Advanced Material Processing, a new platform company that combines Kason with May River’s existing portfolio company, Marion Process Solutions.

Kason manufactures equipment used to separate materials from solids and slurries including circular vibratory screeners and centrifugal screeners. The company also makes a line of fluid-bed processors that are used for the drying, cooling, or moisturizing of bulk solids.

Kason’s products are used in a range of industries including food, pharmaceutical, chemical, plastic, energy, minerals, aerospace and defense. The company, led by CEO Henry Alamzad, was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Milburn, NJ with additional offices in Canada and the UK.

Marion manufactures food, chemical, plastic, and mineral mixers and blenders, as well as microwave vacuum drying systems that are used in the food, nutraceutical, mineral, plastic, chemical, and biomass industries. The company, led by CEO Lee Eilers, was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Marion, IA.

“The transaction was handled smoothly and rapidly from the outset,” said Chip Grace, a partner at May River. “We were impressed that the Abacus team knew both the material processing sector and the company. They were responsive, efficient, easy to work, and delivered on time as promised.”

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 $50 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $40 million.

“This was our first transaction with May River,” said Tim Clifford, president and CEO of Abacus, “and we were pleased that they worked so well with us during what was a very smooth due diligence process.”

“They were an excellent team to work with,” added Eric Petersen, a director with Abacus, “and made our underwriting and documentation easy. Therefore, we were able to move quickly – an important aspect of Making Life Easier™ through our Total Partnership Approach™.” The firm’s Total Partnership Approach refers its focus on relationships not just transactions and includes its cash-flow financing expertise, deep industry knowledge, and a commitment to exceptional client service, including swift response times, over the lifecycle of each investment.

Other Abacus team members involved in this transaction were Senior Associate Joe Lee and Analyst Austin Rendell. 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).

Chicago-based May River invests from $15 million to $40 million of equity in companies with enterprise values of $15 million to $75 million. Sectors of interest include precision manufacturing, engineered products, specialized industrial services, and value-added industrial distribution. May River was founded in February 2012 and closed its inaugural fund, May River Fund I LP, in March 2017 with total commitments of $170 million.

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | September 10, 2019