CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Antares Capital today announced it served as administrative agent for a $61 million senior secured credit facility to support Nautic Partners' acquisition of Prince Sports in partnership with Prince's management. GE Capital Markets served as sole lead arranger and sole bookrunner. This transaction is fully syndicated.
The financing consisted of a $20 million revolving credit facility and a $41 million term loan facility. Proceeds were used to fund Nautic's acquisition of Prince and to provide for future working capital needs.
Headquartered in Bordentown, NJ, Prince Sports is a premier branded sporting goods company that develops, sources and markets racquet sports equipment, footwear, apparel and accessories for tennis and indoor court sports. Founded in 1970, Prince has a 37-year track record of developing premium quality products for the racquet sports industry. The company pioneered many patented innovative designs including the "oversized" racquet, the "longbody" racquet and, most recently, "O-Port" technology for broad sports equipment applications. The company's brands, which include Prince and Ektelon, have consistently ranked among the top global racquet brands over the past three decades.
"Prince Sports has an ongoing commitment to innovation that is embodied in its strong brand name and unique product capabilities. Additionally, its global distribution network with strong specialty channel market share has further led to its success," said Dan Barry, Senior Managing Director of GE Antares. "We are delighted to again work with Nautic Partners."
Chris Crosby, a Managing Director of Nautic Partners said, "We appreciate GE Antares' responsiveness and successful execution on this financing, as well as their ongoing commitment to Nautic. The GE Antares team is very supportive of Prince and of the vision management has for continued growth and success of the Company."
About Nautic Partners
Founded in 1986, Nautic Partners is a middle-market private equity firm with over $2.3 billion of equity capital under management. The firm has completed over 100 transactions in partnership with management and delivered successful results to investors for over three decades. Nautic targets equity investments of $25-$100 million, representing majority ownership in companies with proven business models, defensible market positions, and strong growth potential. Areas of focus include business services, manufacturing, healthcare and communications. For more information, please visit www.nautic.com.
About GE Antares Capital
GE Antares Capital is a unit of GE Commercial Finance - Global Sponsor Finance. With over $8 billion in assets, and offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, GE Antares offers a "one-stop" source for GE's lending and other services offered to middle market private equity sponsors. For more information, visit the GE Antares website at www.geantares.com.
About GE Commercial Finance
GE Commercial Finance, which offers businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services, has assets of over $233 billion and is headquartered in Norwalk Connecticut. GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
Contacts GE Commercial Finance, Norwalk
Ned Reynolds, 203-229-5717
[email protected]
Jeff Wilson
GE Capital Corporate Finance
[email protected]
1-203-749-6340