Financing

Twin Brook Capital Partners provided financing to support Blue Point Capital’s recent acquisition of W.A. Kendall and Co., a provider of vegetation management services to utility companies in the Southeast United States.

Chicago-based Twin Brook is the middle market direct lending arm of Angelo Gordon. 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. The firm provides financing to support sponsor-led buyouts and recapitalizations of companies with $3 million to $50 million in EBITDA, with an emphasis on companies with $25 million of EBITDA and below.

Blue Point closed on the acquisition of W.A. Kendall earlier this month. W.A. Kendall’s services include tree trimming, mowing, line clearing, debris removal, and storm restoration. Demand for the company’s services is largely driven by regulatory requirements and the necessity to routinely manage vegetation to mitigate power outages.

W.A. Kendall was founded in 1970 by Warren Kendall and is headquartered near Atlanta in Lawrenceville, GA (www.wakendall.com).

“Given its impressive reputation and growth, W.A. Kendall is a perfect example of the type of company with which Blue Point aims to invest,” said Brian Castleberry, a principal with Blue Point. “We look forward to partnering with and assisting the management team as they continue to evolve the company’s capabilities and drive profitable growth.”

Blue Point invests in manufacturing, distribution and service businesses that have from $20 million to $300 million in revenue and EBITDA greater than $5 million. The firm has offices in Cleveland, Charlotte, Seattle, and Shanghai (www.bluepointcapital.com). The investment in W.A. Kendall was made through the Blue Point’s fourth fund, Blue Point Capital Partners IV LP, which closed in January 2018 at its hard cap of $700 million.

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 $32 billion in capital and has over 480 employees, including 190 investment professionals. Angelo, Gordon & Co. is headquartered in New York with additional offices across the US, Europe and Asia (www.angelogordon.com).

Since inception in Q4 2014, Twin Brook has closed 296 transactions, issued $9.0 billion in commitments and served as deals lead/co-lead arranger on 92% of its deals (www.twincp.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 18, 2019

Abacus Finance Group was the Administrative Agent and Sole Lender in support of the acquisition of Cutting Edge Services (CES) by In-Place Machining Company, a portfolio company of Platte River Equity since November 2016.

CES is a provider of outsourced industrial services specializing in diamond wire sawing, drilling and removal services. The company provides its services both on land and undersea and serves the nuclear, hydro, locks and dams, heavy industrial, decommissioning, bridge construction and undersea pipes and platforms sectors.

CES also offers robotic demolition, hydraulic splitting, diamond blade sawing and super-abrasive steel cutting. The company is headquartered east of Cincinnati in Batavia, OH (www.cuttingedgeservices.com).

In-Place Machining (IPM) provides on-site machining and measurement services to customers in the power generation, metal production, infrastructure, marine and defense industries. The company’s services include field machining; diamond wire cutting; alignment and measurement; crankshaft repair and machining; line boring; cast iron repair; and on-site welding. IPM, led by CEO Dean Flint, has more than 100 employees and is headquartered in Milwaukee with an additional facility in Chesapeake, VA (www.inplace.com).

“Once again, Abacus Finance proved to be a very flexible and reliable partner,” said Mark Brown, a managing director of Platte River. “We were given certainty of closure early in the process, the turnaround was quick and the execution seamless. They’re really just great Americans.”

“We have a longstanding relationship with Platte River Equity, which we strongly value, just as they value our Total Partnership Approach™,” said Tim Clifford, president and CEO of Abacus. The firm’s Total Partnership Approach refers to its cash-flow financing expertise and deep industry knowledge, as well as its focus on exceptional client service over the lifecycle of each investment.

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.

Platte River makes equity investments of $20 million to $100 million in lower middle-market companies with enterprise values between $40 million and $250 million. The firm focuses on investing in the aerospace and transportation; energy and infrastructure; agriculture and chemicals; and metals and minerals. Platte River is based in Denver (www.platteriverequity.com).

“Platte River knows the industrial products and services space well, which made the underwriting process go smoothly,” added Eric Petersen, a senior vice president at Abacus.

Abacus is headquartered in New York and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust (www.abacusfinance.com).

© 2019 Private Equity Professional | January 17, 2019

Abacus Finance Group served as Administrative Agent and Lead Arranger for senior secured credit facilities to support the add-on addition of Drew’s Organics by Schlotterbeck & Foss, a Frontenac portfolio company since September 2017.

Drew’s Organics is a manufacturer of organic and non-GMO dressings, marinades and salsas based in Chester, VT (drewsorganics.com).

Schlotterbeck & Foss (S&F) develops, manufactures and distributes a range of gourmet sauces, marinades, condiments, salsas, ice cream toppings, spreads and salad dressings. The company has some branded products but the bulk of its operations are used for private label manufacturing. S&F manufactures its specialty food products in small batches with natural, non-GMO and organic ingredients in a SQF-certified facility that opened in 2014.

Condiments are S&F’s largest product category and are sold across all channels. The company’s meat and seafood condiments include such products as cocktail sauce, bacon jam, country ketchup, crab cake sauce, horseradish aioli, blue cheese mustard and tartar sauce. S&F also offers salsas with flavors like chipotle corn, chili, harissa sun-dried tomato, mango pineapple and Texas caviar.

S&F was founded in 1866 by Augustus Schlotterbeck and Charles Foss and was operated by three generations of the Foss family until it was sold in 2003 to Paul and Kathie Dioli. Today, S&F is headquartered in Westbrook, ME (www.schlotterbeck-foss.com).

Abacus provided the senior debt for the acquisition of S&F in September 2017 and also made an equity co-investment. “It’s great to have Abacus as a partner in this strategic acquisition of Drew’s Organics. They were able to upsize the facility and execute the deal within our timeline,” said Walter Florence, Frontenac Managing Partner.

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 $60 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $30 million.  Since its inception in June 2011, Abacus has closed over $1.9 billion in financings. Abacus is headquartered in New York and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust (www.abacusfinance.com).

“This was our second transaction with Frontenac. They are a key relationship for Abacus, and they place a high value on our flexibility and speed – key aspects of what we call our Total Partnership Approach™,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus.

Frontenac invests in lower middle-market businesses that operate primarily in the food, industrial, and services industries. The firm was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Chicago (www.frontenac.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | November 26, 2018

Abacus Finance Group was the Administrative Agent and Lead Arranger for $25.5 million in senior secured credit facilities to support the recapitalization of The Phia Group by WestView Capital Partners. Abacus also made an equity co-investment as part of the transaction.

In September, Abacus backed the acquisition by WestView of AccountabilIT, a Scottsdale, AZ-based provider of outsourced IT services to middle-market companies as wells as small and medium-sized businesses. Abacus also made an equity co-investment in AccountabilIT as well.

The Phia Group is a provider of outsourced cost containment and payment integrity services to healthcare payers and the entities that service them. The company’s services include plan document drafting, subrogation and overpayment recovery, claim negotiation, plan defense and consulting. The Phia Group is headquartered near Boston in Braintree, MA (www.phiagroup.com).

“Once again, we selected the Abacus team because of its industry knowledge in the healthcare sector,” said WestView General Partner Matt Carroll. “Equally important was their ability to provide certainty of close early on in the process.”

“Part of the Abacus mission is to back leaders in their niches, and The Phia Group is a trailblazer in its space,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus. “Lead investor Matt Carroll and WestView are best in class when it comes to healthcare technology and outsourcing. They are easy to work with and they place a high value on our flexibility and speed – key aspects of what we call our Total Partnership Approach™.”

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 $60 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $30 million.  New York-based Abacus was formed in June 2011 and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust (www.abacusfinance.com).

WestView makes majority and minority investments of $10 million to $60 million in lower middle market growth companies.  Sectors of interest include business services, software and IT services, consumer, healthcare technology and outsourcing and growth industrial. Target companies will have operating profits between $3 million and $20 million. WestView manages approximately $1.7 billion in capital across four funds and is headquartered in Boston (www.wvcapital.com).

Abacus team members involved in the transaction included Sean McKeever and Brian Green while WestView’s team was composed of Matt Carroll, Jeff Clark and Kevin Twomey.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | October 16, 2018

Abacus Finance Group was the Administrative Agent and Lead Arranger for $20 million in senior secured credit facilities to back the recapitalization of AccountabilIT by WestView Capital Partners. Abacus also made an equity co-investment to support the transaction.

AccountabilIT is a provider of outsourced IT services to middle-market companies as wells as small and medium-sized businesses. The company provides a range of outsourced IT services including cloud transformation, managed public cloud and hybrid cloud infrastructure management, application management, database administration and cybersecurity. The company, led by its CEO and founder Chuck Vermillion, was founded in August 2016 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ (www.accountabilit.com).

“It was great to work once again with the WestView principals, some of whom we have known for more than a decade,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus Finance. “They have consistently brought us attractive opportunities like AccountabilIT that align well with our investment strategy.”

Proceeds from this investment were also used by AccountabilIT to acquire Little Rock, AR-based ClearPointe Technologies, a provider of IT managed services for data center environments around the world. The company, led by CEO Jeff Johnson, currently manages servers, applications, and connectivity in both public and private clouds, hybrid clouds as well as on-premises data centers (www.clearpointe.cloud). The buy of ClearPointe is the second acquisition for AccountabilIT since its founding in 2016. “There are tremendous synergies by combining our two organizations,” said Mr. Johnson. “ClearPointe is a leader in Microsoft centric services including Azure-based solutions and Azure management. AccountabilIT’s competencies in application management, database administration, Linux administration and managed security are the perfect complement to our services.”

“We have enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Abacus,” said Westview Principal Greg Thomas. “As in past transactions, they took the time to fully understand the cash flow needs of the business and provided a flexible financing solution that supports growth.”

WestView makes majority and minority investments of $10 million to $60 million in lower middle market growth companies.  Sectors of interest include business services, software and IT services, consumer, healthcare technology and outsourcing and growth industrial. Target companies will have operating profits between $3 million and $20 million.

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 $60 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $30 million.  New York-based Abacus was formed in June 2011 and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust (www.abacusfinance.com).

“We were extremely impressed with AccountabilIT’s senior management team,” added Sean McKeever, Abacus Managing Director & COO, “and are excited to be their financing partner as they embark on the next stage of growth. As in other transactions, our success was a function of our speed, flexibility, and certainty of close – key aspects of what we call our Total Partnership Approach.”

“The decision to select Abacus Finance for this transaction was easy,” said WestView Managing Partner Richard Williams.

WestView manages approximately $1.7 billion in capital across four funds and is headquartered in Boston (www.wvcapital.com).

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | September 20, 2018

Abacus Finance Group was the Administrative Agent and Lead Arranger for senior secured credit facilities to support the refinancing of ECA Medical Instruments by LongueVue Capital (LVC).

ECA Medical Instruments, acquired by LVC in April 2016 from American Capital, develops and manufactures single-use, torque-limiting instruments, fixed drivers, and instrument kits for the medical device and implant market.The company’s products are developed in partnership with original equipment manufacturers in the cardiac, neuromodulation, cardiovascular and orthopedic/spine markets. Since its founding in 1979, ECA has manufactured over 35 million instruments and single-use surgery ready procedural kits. The company is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA (www.ecamedical.com).

“Once again, Abacus proved to be a reliable and value-added partner,” said LVC Partner Ryan Nagim.

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 $60 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $30 million.  New York-based Abacus was formed in June 2011 and is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust (www.abacusfinance.com).

“We support LongueVue Capital’s vision for the company, one of the reasons we were able to provide certainty of close early on,” said Abacus Senior Vice President Eric Petersen. “As in other transactions, the critical success factors came down to our flexibility and a seamless due diligence process – both important aspects of what we call our Total Partnership Approach™.” Abacus team members involved in the transaction included Mr. Petersen and Senior Associate Rafal Rydzewski.

“Abacus was very flexible on structure and moved quickly,” said LVC Co-Founding Partner Rick Rees. “We look forward to working with them in the future.”

LongueVue makes equity and debt investments in lower middle-market companies that have over $3 million of EBITDA and up to $150 million of annual revenue. Sectors of interest include business services, transportation and logistics, healthcare, energy services, and niche manufacturing. In March 2017, the firm held a final close of LongueVue Capital Partners III LP. The new fund was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap of $252 million. LongueVue was founded in 2001 and is based in New Orleans with additional offices in New York and Salt Lake City (www.lvcpartners.com).

“We are excited to have closed another transaction with our partners at LVC,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus Finance.

© 2018 Private Equity Professional | September 13, 2018