ABACUS FINANCE PROVIDES SENIOR DEBT FINANCING TO SUPPORT THE ADD-ON ACQUISITION OF CAPTION COLORADO BY VITAC CORPORATION, A GORES GROUP PORTFOLIO COMPANY
New York, NY, January 30, 2017 - Abacus Finance Group, LLC, a New York-based direct lending company that provides cash-flow senior financing for private equity-sponsored, lower-middle market companies, announced today that it served as Administrative Agent and Sole Lead Arranger for certain senior secured credit facilities to support the add-on acquisition Caption Colorado by VITAC, a portfolio company of Gores Small Capitalization Partners (Gores).
Headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO, Caption Colorado is a leading provider of closed captioning and related services in the United States. Founded in 1986 and based in Canonsburg, PA, VITAC is the largest U.S. provider of captioning services to the live and prerecorded television programming and entertainment industries. The Gores Group, founded in 1987 by Alec Gores and headquartered in Los Angeles, is a global investment firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm's operating experience and flexible capital base.
“We were delighted to partner with Abacus again as we continue to grow our investment in VITAC,” said Gores Principal Anthony Chirikos.” “Once again, Abacus’ speed, certainty, and industry knowledge showed itself in an efficient execution.”
“This was our second transaction with a firm that has an impressive record of carve-out and integration transactions. They are easy to work with, and they place a high value on our flexibility and speed – key aspects of what we call our Total Partnership Approach™,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus. “This was another great transaction with The Gores Group. As before, we were impressed with their diligence skills,” added Abacus Senior Vice President Tim Wong.
Abacus team members involved in the transaction included Timothy Wong, Jonathan Choa and Joseph Lee. Legal counsel was provided to Abacus by Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.
About Caption Colorado
Founded in 1991, Caption Colorado employs more than 300 professionals and provides captions for more than 500 events each day, with real-time, online, and offline captioning for scheduled news broadcasts, breaking news broadcasts, weather emergencies, television, feature films, event centers, stadiums and arenas, corporate meetings, training and seminars, voice relay captioning, webcasts, conventions and conferences, and investor relations calls. Visit captioncolorado.com for more information.
About VITAC Corporation
VITAC is the largest provider of closed captioning in the country, responsible for captioning approximately 300,000 live-program hours per year (over 600 hours per day), and creating verbatim, precisely-timed captions for 57,000 pre-recorded programs per year. VITAC’s customers include every major broadcast network, most cable channels, program producers, corporations, and government agencies, among others. Founded in 1986, VITAC is headquartered in Canonsburg, PA and currently employs over 325 people, with some of the most skilled and tenured professionals in the industry. Visit vitac.com for more information.
About The Gores Group, LLC
The Gores Group (“Gores”), founded in 1987 by Alec Gores, is a global investment firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm’s operating experience and flexible capital base. Over its 30-year history, The Gores Group has become a leading investor, having demonstrated a reliable track record of creating value in its portfolio companies alongside management. Gores Small Capitalization Partners targets investments in the lower middle market and employs the same investment philosophy and operationally-focused strategy that are core to Gores. Headquartered in Los Angeles, The Gores Group maintains offices in Boulder, Colorado, and London. Visit gores.com for more information.
About Abacus Finance Group, LLC
Abacus Finance is a leading direct lending company, focused on providing cash flow senior financing to private equity-sponsored, lower-middle market companies across a wide array of industries. Since its inception in June 2011, it has closed over $2 billion in financings. Abacus targets debt financing opportunities of up to $75 million with a typical hold size ranging from $10 million to $40 million, and finances companies with EBITDA between $3 million and $15 million. Abacus is an affiliate of New York Private Bank & Trust which was founded in 1850.
Abacus Finance is located at 335 Madison Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10017. All inquiries and new investment opportunities should be directed to Tim Clifford at 212-850-4620 or to cliffordt@abacusfinance.com. Please visit abacusfinance.com for more information.
The Total Partnership Approach™, which is a registered trademark of Abacus Finance, LLC, brings cash-flow financing expertise, deep industry knowledge and exceptional client service, and our way of Making Life Easier over the lifecycle of each investment for our private equity sponsors.