NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Unitranche Fund LLC today announced the closing of a $148 million unitranche debt financing to support the acquisition of ArrMaz Custom Chemicals, Inc. by Snow Phipps Group, LLC. GE Antares Capital provided a $20 million revolver to the company. Founded in 1976, ArrMaz is a leading producer of chemical process aids and functional additives for the fertilizer, phosphate mining, asphalt, and nitrogen chemical industries.
Unitranche Fund LLC was formed in December 2007 by affiliates of GE Commercial Finance and Allied Capital to deliver a reliable, single-source unitranche loan product to companies with EBITDA of $15 - $90 million.
Douglas Cannaliato, Senior Vice President of GE Antares Capital said, "We are delighted to work with SPG and management to finance this transaction. Together with Allied Capital, we were able to deliver a unitranche loan with efficiency, service and certainty of execution to meet an expedited customer timeline." John Fruehwirth, Managing Director of Allied Capital added, "This was an attractive investment opportunity due to the company's market-leading position, good value proposition and strong customer relationships."
Sean Epps, Partner of Snow Phipps remarked, "The combined efforts of GE and Allied Capital were critical to achieving this successful financing through their highly efficient unitranche loan product."
About Unitranche Fund LLC
Unitranche Fund LLC (the "Fund") was formed in December 2007 by Allied Capital and GE Commercial Finance. The Fund can invest up to $270 million for a single borrower, while Allied Capital and GE Commercial Finance may jointly underwrite amounts above that, up to $500 million in total debt financing. The Fund targets investments in a wide range of industry sectors, including business services, healthcare, media, energy, aerospace and transportation. A unitranche loan blends senior and junior debt pricing and terms into a single first lien debt facility, and provides a simple, attractive alternative to traditional senior/subordinated debt structures. Borrowers benefit from simplified documentation through a single credit agreement, greater certainty of execution, and reduced decision-making complexity throughout the life of the loan.
About GE Antares Capital
GE Antares Capital is a unit of GE Commercial Finance - Global Sponsor Finance. With $13 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 approximately $300 billion and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media company that is built to meet essential world needs. From energy, water, transportation and health to access to money and information, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com. GE is Imagination at Work.
About Allied Capital
Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) is a leading business development company (BDC) in the U.S. that invests long-term debt and equity capital in middle market businesses nationwide. Founded in 1958 and operating as a public company since 1960, Allied Capital is celebrating 50 years of investing in the U.S. entrepreneurial economy. With approximately $5 billion in total balance sheet assets at June 30, 2008, Allied Capital is among the largest BDCs with a diverse portfolio of investments in 120 companies across a variety of industries. These companies generate aggregate revenues of over $13 billion and employ more than 98,000 people. In addition to its own balance sheet assets, Allied Capital manages private funds with committed capital totaling $5 billion, and has investments in portfolio companies that manage assets totaling approximately $6 billion. For more information, please visit www.alliedcapital.com.
About Snow Phipps Group, LLC
SPG is a New York based private equity firm founded by Ian Snow and Ogden Phipps that seeks to acquire middle market businesses in attractive industries by leveraging the expertise of exclusive Operating Partners.
About ArrMaz Custom Chemicals, Inc.
ArrMaz Custom Chemicals, headquartered in Mulberry, Florida, is a producer of a wide variety of process chemicals, which are generally custom formulated to meet customer specifications. ArrMaz Custom Chemicals is the leading producer of functional additives and process aids to the fertilizer and asphalt industries and is a significant provider of chemical products to related minerals mining industries. ArrMaz Custom Chemicals distributes its products in over 70 countries and has production facilities in key locations worldwide. For more information, please visit www.am-cc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information contained in this press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Certain factors could cause actual results and conditions to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements.
Ned Reynolds
GE Capital
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