NEW YORK & NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Senior Secured Loan Program (SSLP), jointly managed by an affiliate of Ares Capital Corporation (“Ares Capital”) and an affiliate of GE Capital, announced on November 4, 2014 that during the third quarter it closed 6 financing transactions, including refinancings of existing portfolio companies, totaling $887.3 million. Since January 1, 2010, the SSLP has committed approximately $16.8 billion to middle market borrowers, including $2.5 billion across 19 transactions year-to-date through September 30, 2014.
Below is a description of three of the transactions that closed during the third quarter.
Atlantic City Linen Supply / Alvarez & Marsal Capital Partners
GE Capital Markets and Ares Capital served as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners in a $92.6 million senior secured term loan and a $20.0 million delayed draw term loan provided by the SSLP to support the merger of Brady Linen Services with AC Linen, a portfolio company of Alvarez & Marsal Capital, and the associated recapitalization of the combined company. Brady Linen Services is the leading provider of outsourced linen and laundry services to the Las Vegas hotel and gaming industry. Brady and AC Linen combined to form the largest hospitality-focused laundry in the country, processing over one million pounds of laundry per day in 12 facilities across six states along both coasts and the Bahamas. The company has a leading market position in each of its core markets, including Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Boston, Philadelphia and Connecticut.
Caliber Collision / OMERS Private Equity
GE Capital Markets and Ares Capital served as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners in a $330.0 million senior secured term loan and a $50.0 million delayed draw term loan provided by the SSLP and Ares Capital to support the refinancing of existing debt and Caliber’s acquisition pipeline. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Lewisville, Texas, Caliber Collision is one of the largest collision repair companies in the United States, operating primarily in the southwest.
Tectum Holdings / TA Associates
GE Capital Markets and Ares Capital served as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners in a senior secured term loan provided by the SSLP and Ares Capital to support the acquisition of Tectum Holdings by TA Associates. Tectum Holdings is the leading supplier of branded light duty truck accessories for pick-up truck applications.
About Senior Secured Loan Program
The Senior Secured Loan Program was formed in December 2007 to invest in the senior secured debt of middle-market companies. Its members are comprised of Ares Capital Corporation and GE Global Sponsor Finance LLC. The program is co-managed by GE Commercial Finance Investment Advisory Services LLC and Ares Capital Management LLC and transactions require approval by the individuals appointed by the members of the SSLP. The SSLP has $11 billion of available capital and can hold up to $350 million in a single transaction for borrowers across a wide range of industry sectors. The SSLP benefits borrowers by virtue of greater speed, simplicity and certainty, with proven partners.
About Ares Capital Corporation
Ares Capital is a leading specialty finance company that provides one-stop debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle market companies, venture capital backed businesses and power generation projects. Ares Capital originates and invests in senior secured loans, mezzanine debt and, to a lesser extent, equity investments through its national direct origination platform. Ares Capital’s investment objective is to generate both current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments primarily in private companies. Ares Capital has elected to be regulated as a business development company, and is externally managed by a subsidiary of Ares Management, L.P. (“Ares Management”) (NYSE:ARES). Ares Management is a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $79 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2014. For more information, visit www.arescapitalcorp.com. However, the contents of such website are not and should not be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein.
About GE Capital
GE Capital offers consumers and businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services. For more information, visit www.gecapital.com or follow company news via Twitter (https://twitter.com/GECapital). GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
About GE Antares Capital
GE Antares is a unit of GE Capital. With offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, and San Francisco, GE Antares is a leading middle market lender, offering a “one-stop” source for GE’s lending and other services offered to middle market private equity sponsors. GE Antares was recognized by Private Debt Investor and Private Equity International as 2013 Lender of the Year, North America and Mid-Cap Lender of the Year, North America, respectively. For more information, visit www.geantares.com.
About AC Linen
Founded in 1986, AC Linen provides one-stop laundry services for the full suite of hospitality needs including housekeeping, spa and restaurant linens, uniforms and valet processing. AC Linen acquired Royal Hospitality Services, the market leader in Boston for outsourced hospitality linen services, in early 2014. The combined company operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and 365 days per year, processing approximately half-a-million pounds of laundry per day for leading hospitality clients across five states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.aclinen.com.
About Brady Linen Services
Founded in 2000, Brady Linen Services is the leading outsourced provider of linen services to the Las Vegas hotel and gaming industry. The business provides an array of hospitality linen programs, including housekeeping linens, food & beverage and banquet linens, uniforms, and mats. For more information, visit www.bradylinen.com.
About Alvarez & Marsal Capital Partners
A&M Capital is a middle-market private equity firm with $600 million under management which invests in established and profitable companies that can benefit from the firm’s access to significant operating resources. The firm has a strategic association with Alvarez & Marsal, which gives it the distinctive capability to bring the exact management or operational talent to the companies with which they partner, whether interim, part-time or permanent resources are required. As such, their experience with various kinds of businesses and ownership profiles allows them to meet sellers’ objectives with mutually beneficial transactions that specifically address the goals of existing shareholders. The principals of A&M Capital have a combined 70 years of experience executing private equity transactions in the middle-market with this profile. For more information, visit www.a-mcapital.com.
About Caliber Collision
Caliber Collision Centers is one of the largest collision repair companies in America with 197 I-CAR Gold Class Professional certified collision repair centers across nine states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas. Caliber is consistently ranked among the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry and backs all repair work with a written, lifetime warranty available at any of its 197 repair centers. For more information, visit www.calibercollision.com.
About OMERS Private Equity
OMERS Private Equity (“OPE”) makes private equity investments on behalf of OMERS and manages over $6.5 billion of investments globally. The group’s investment strategy includes the active ownership of businesses in North America and Europe. OPE is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with offices in London and New York. For more information, visit www.omerspe.com.
About Tectum Holdings, Inc.
Tectum Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for Extang, TruXedo, UnderCover, Advantage Truck Accessories, Retrax and BAK Industries brands, leading manufacturers of tonneau covers for light duty trucks, and BedRug, a pioneer in the development of bed liners. Today, THI’s brands are recognized as the top brands in the U.S. light duty truck aftermarket and leaders in product innovation. For more information, visit www.thicorp.com.
About TA Associates
TA Associates is one of the largest and most experienced global growth private equity firms. The firm has invested in more than 440 companies around the world and has raised $18 billion in capital. With offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong, TA Associates leads buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the technology, financial services, business services, healthcare and consumer industries. For more information, visit www.ta.com.
