Downer & Company Advises Apex Specialty Materials on Sale of European Operations
Follows Sale of U.S. Operations in 2002
BOSTON, April 7, 2003 - Downer & Company, LLC, an international investment banking firm specializing in middle-market corporate acquisitions and divestitures, announced today that it has advised Apex Specialty Materials on the divestment of its subsidiary, the Hahl Group, to Granville Baird Capital Partners. This divestiture follows the sale of Apex Specialty Materials' U.S. operations to Boston-based Capital Resource Partners in 2002. Downer & Company was the sole financial advisor to Apex Specialty Materials on both deals.
The Hahl Group, with operations in Germany, the UK and the Czech Republic, is a leading provider of synthetic brush filaments, monofilaments, and abrasive brush filaments. Granville Baird Capital Partners is the European private equity arm of the U.S.-based Baird Group, investing € 650 million in middle-market companies focused on the industrial products, IT, healthcare, and business services sectors.
Downer & Company was uniquely qualified to successfully execute the Apex Specialty Materials mandate. "When we commenced the program, it was not clear whether there would be one sale or separate sales of the U.S. and European operations," said Paul Colone, Vice President with Downer & Company. "The recently completed European transaction demonstrates our ability to carry out complicated international deals involving unique financial and legal issues often encountered in cross-border deals. The U.S. deal allowed us to work on a transaction where the buyer, seller and lender were all based in New England," continued Mr. Colone. "I applaud both Granville Baird and Capital Resource Partners for their ability to finance and close these deals in a difficult M&A environment."
Thomas Tepas, CEO of Apex Specialty Materials remarked, "Similar to the U.S. transaction, I am pleased that the senior members of the Hahl Group's management team will remain with the company and partner with their new owners to profitably grow the business." He continued, "Downer & Company provided us with excellent M&A advisory services and their persistence and creativity were instrumental in the completion of these two transactions."
Pepper Hamilton LLP provided legal advice to Apex Specialty Materials on both the U.S. and European transactions while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer also advised on the European transaction.
The terms of the U.S. and European transactions were not disclosed. The combined revenues for the sold entities were approximately $100 million.
About Downer & Company
Since its inception in 1975, Downer & Company, LLC, has gained distinction as a leading middle-market M&A firm focused on the execution of acquisition and divestiture mandates for international and domestic corporations and private equity firms. Downer & Company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and has offices in Paris, Dublin, Frankfurt and Sydney. Downer & Company received an award for transacting the “International Cross-Border Deal of 2004” and was recognized as the top Investment Banking Firm of 2003 by The Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor. Downer & Company's corporate headquarters are located at 60 State Street, Boston, MA 02109. For further information, visit www.downer.com.
Contact
Paul A. Colone
Vice President
Downer & Company, LLC
(617) 482-6200
pcolone@downer.com
Patti Harrington
Marketing Director
Downer & Company, LLC
(617) 482-6200
pharrington@downer.com
