Praesidian Capital has provided $6.9 million in senior debt and also provided growth capital to support the acquisition by Cohere Communications of Another 9.
Cohere Communications provides managed cloud, voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) and IT services to more than 200 customers globally that are primarily in the financial and media sectors. Cohere is led by Steven Francesco, CEO. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in New York (www.coherecomm.com).
Another 9 provides telecommunications services to more than 300 small and mid-sized businesses and specializes in secure, multi-site and high availability hosted solutions. The company’s clients include commercial banks, hedge funds and private equity partnerships, insurance companies, legal firms, utilities, healthcare, consumer products, B2B commerce as well as public sector entities and non-profit organizations. Another 9 is headquartered in Tarrytown, NY (www.another9.com).
“We are glad to partner with Steve Francesco and help him to execute his long-term vision for Cohere. We see the combination of these businesses as a focused, unified approach to telecomm and IT service solutions, and we welcome Cohere to Praesidian’s growing group of IT-related businesses,” said Glenn Harrison, Partner of Praesidian Capital.
Praesidian Capital provides senior and mezzanine capital to small and mid-sized businesses that have revenues of $15 million to $200 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $20 million. The firm typically invests in connection with a management/leveraged buyout, recapitalization or refinancing. Types of facilities offered include one-stop financing, senior secured debt, junior secured debt, preferred stock, and common equity in connection with a mezzanine investment. Praesidian is based in New York with an additional office in London and manages nearly $1 billion in committed capital (www.praesidian.com).
“In the acquisition of Another 9, we saw a company with a shared focus, commitment and expertise in addressing complex technologies,” said Mr. Francesco. “The combination of Cohere and Another 9 offers new opportunities for serving our clients more effectively. We look forward to working with Praesidian Capital as we use our joint capabilities to become a full-solution IT services provider.”
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-21-14