DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cedar Springs Capital, LLC, a special situations investment firm focused on providing fund restructuring solutions to middle-market private equity and venture capital funds, announced it has completed the restructuring of CCM Capital Opportunities Fund (f.k.a. Aequitas Capital Opportunities Fund). The transaction closed last month, almost a year after the U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon placed the Fund’s previous parent company, Aequitas Management, LLC, into Receivership following allegations of fundraising improprieties and charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Prior to the Receivership order filed in Court last year (March 2016), Cedar Springs Capital tracked the situation at Aequitas and completed a preliminary assessment of the firm’s private equity assets. Once the Receivership process officially commenced, Cedar Springs Capital ramped up its efforts, performing on-site due diligence in Portland, Oregon before presenting its initial fund restructuring proposal to the court-appointed Receiver in June 2016. After months of positioning itself against other buyers interested in acquiring only certain parts of the Fund, Cedar Springs Capital ultimately prevailed in Court on October 27, 2016, securing an opportunity to negotiate final terms and provide the Receiver with a holistic restructuring solution for the entire Fund (subject to Court-approved stalking horse procedures and final sale approval). A definitive purchase agreement was executed with the Receiver on December 7, 2016, and on January 20, 2017 the Court approved the sale to Cedar Springs Capital, clearing the path for closing.
To help facilitate closing of the transaction, Cedar Springs Capital chose to team up with Fort Worth, Texas based Crestline Investors, Inc., which provided senior preferred financing for the deal. As the new General Partner and manager of the Fund, Cedar Springs Capital invested heavily into the common equity and will continue to work with Crestline Investors, which is contributing resources to supplement Cedar Springs Capital’s ongoing portfolio management.
The Fund’s portfolio consists of investments in six high-growth fin-tech businesses enabled by proprietary technologies and products to more intelligently penetrate underserved segments of the U.S. credit markets. The Fund’s largest asset is a majority-stake in CarePayment Technologies, Inc., a leading patient financial engagement company that partners with healthcare providers to offer patients zero percent interest payment programs. Cedar Springs Capital invested a significant portion of the Fund’s recapitalization proceeds into CarePayment to support the company during an important period of growth and expansion – now free of the Aequitas Receivership, CarePayment is experiencing a surge in momentum, recently signing several high-profile healthcare systems and expanding its provider network into more than 30 states.
About Cedar Springs Capital
Including the Aequitas fund restructuring, Cedar Springs Capital has completed five transactions since founder and Managing Partner, Colin McGrady, launched the platform in 2015 after the previous firm he founded, Cogent Partners, was acquired by Greenhill & Co. Neset Pirkul, a Principal who joined Cedar Springs Capital at the firm’s inception, ran lead on the negotiations, structuring, and execution of the Aequitas transaction, with support from colleague (and fellow Cogent Partners alum), Imran Hussain, a Vice President who recently celebrated his one-year anniversary at the firm.
The firm’s past deals include a tender-offer restructuring of a 2000 vintage venture capital fund (completed fall 2015), a secondary-direct acquisition of senior preferred shares from a strategic investor in fabless semiconductor player, ClariPhy Communications, Inc. (the investment resulted in a realized 3x return after ClariPhy was acquired by Inphi Corporation in December 2016), and the buyout, recapitalization and merger of seven real asset funds (fall 2016). For the foreseeable future, Cedar Springs Capital will continue to focus on executing its core strategy – middle-market restructuring transactions tied to special situations in illiquid fund structures. For additional information, please visit www.cedarspringscapital.com.
