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Woodside Capital Completes Acquisition Hamilton Specialty Bar Assets
08/20/2007 - Woodside Capital has successfully purchased the assets of Hamilton Specialty Bar in a deal led by Woodside Capital, Pinnacle Steel, and Sankaty Advisors.
Private-equity firm Woodside Capital has successfully purchased the assets of Hamilton Specialty Bar Corp. (HSB). The acquisition was led by Woodside Capital, Pinnacle Steel, and Sankaty Advisors.
Founded in 1919, Hamilton Specialty Bar produces specialty bar quality (SBQ) steel for a diverse set of Canadian and U.S. customers in the automotive, agricultural and railway markets. The minimill facility is favorably located in one of the largest SBQ markets in North America.
After several years of struggle with continuing operational challenges, the HSB facility was shut down in May by its former owner, Delaware Street Capital. Woodside Capital, supported by Pinnacle Steel and Sankaty Advisors, successfully navigated the sales process and purchased the assets of the business. The group of investors plans to start welcoming back workers to the facility as soon as possible and to produce product later this fall.
“Woodside is very excited by the opportunity to invest in HSB. Prior to its most recent challenges, the facility has had a proud history of producing high quality SBQ grades for demanding customers,” said Benjamin P. Procter, a partner at Woodside Capital. “We're looking forward to supporting the company's efforts to regain that position. We are fortunate to have outstanding partners in both Pinnacle Steel and Sankaty Advisors to support the acquisition process and more importantly, the impending re-start of the facility over the next few months. We also look forward to partnering with the HSB management and employees in this endeavor.”
Procter added, “The acquisition of HSB is an example of how Woodside creatively utilizes its wide range of investing skills and its extensive network to invest in fundamentally sound businesses that face significant distress rising from strategic, operational, or financial challenges.”
Founded in 1997 and currently investing its sixth fund, Woodside Capital has built a debt and private-equity portfolio targeting lower middle-market companies, typically with sales between $15 and $150 million in revenues. As an experienced investor in all forms of capital, from distressed debt through control equity, Woodside correctly aligns the incentives for all stakeholders involved in a transaction. Woodside is an active, hands-on investor that provides financial, strategic, operational, and governance support to the management teams of its portfolio companies.
With operations in Kentucky, Alabama, and Texas, Pinnacle Steel specializes in buying and reviving distressed steel companies. The company started as a steel management consultancy, Pinnacle Capital, led by Gus Hiller, a veteran executive of Nucor Steel, Birmingham Steel, and AK Steel. Pinnacle's principals bring significant operating experience to challenged steel assets where improved manufacturing strategies can bring about significant improvement in the day-to-day operations of a plant and ultimately, to its bottom-line.
Sankaty Advisors LLC, the credit affiliate of Bain Capital LLC, is one of the nation's leading private managers of high-yield debt obligations. With approximately $20 billion in assets, Sankaty invests in a wide variety of securities, including leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, stressed debt, distressed debt, mezzanine debt, structured products and equity investments. Through a variety of funds, Sankaty Advisors has the ability to invest in a company's capital structure at every level from secured debt to equity, and also can provide capital to growing companies with unique financing needs.
