Allied Capital Announces New Investment in a Leading Distributor of Supplies and Equipment to the Oil & Gas Industry

Allied Capital Announces New Investment in a Leading Distributor of Supplies and Equipment to the Oil & Gas Industry

Monday, August 4th 2008

Allied Capital Corporation announced that it has completed the recapitalization of Industrial Air Tool , a leading distributor of tools, consumable supplies and equipment to the oil & gas industry. Allied Capital partnered with ZS Fund L.P., a New York based private equity firm, and senior management of IAT in the transaction. Allied Capital invested $13.5 million in the junior capital and common equity of the company. Unitranche Fund LLC, co-managed by affiliates of Allied Capital and GE Commercial Finance, provided one-stop debt financing for the deal, investing $64 million of unitranche debt. Allied Capital invested $9.3 million in the Unitranche Fund in connection with this transaction.

Founded in 1966, IAT is today the largest distributor of Ingersoll-Rand winches and hoists worldwide, as well as a supplier of approximately 50,000 SKUs of tools and consumables for offshore oil & gas drillers and refiners.

“The opportunity to work with ZS Fund to recapitalize IAT was attractive to us because of our long-standing relationship and shared experience investing in the specialty distribution sector,” said Dan Russell, Managing Director of Allied Capital. “In addition, having management of IAT as our partner demonstrates their strong commitment to the business, which they have built based on long-standing customer relationships, a dedication to service and value, and deep product knowledge,” he added.

Bob Horne, President of ZS Fund added, “We believe that the partnership between ZS Fund and Allied Capital put us in a strong position to complete this recapitalization, based on each firm’s deep industry experience and partnership approach to investing. We look forward to working together for the benefit of the stakeholders of this business.”

“We are pleased to have Allied Capital and ZS Fund as our new financial partners,” said Andy Gessner, President of IAT. “Their strong industry knowledge makes them valuable partners as we work to continue to grow and build value in our business,” he added.

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