ABACUS FINANCE PROVIDES SENIOR DEBT FINANCING TO SUPPORT THE LEVERAGED BUYOUT OF BELLWETHER MEDIA BY LINEAGE CAPITAL
New York, NY, January 11, 2024 - Abacus Finance Group, LLC – a leading provider of cash flow-based, classic senior debt for sponsor-led buyouts of lower middle-market companies – today announced that it served as Senior Secured Credit Facilities Administrative Agent and Sole Lender for senior secured credit facilities to support the leveraged buyout of Bellwether Media by Lineage Capital. Additionally, Abacus Finance Group made an equity co-investment in Bellwether Media.
Minnetonka, MN-based Bellwether Media is a leading publisher of educational children’s books for students in Pre-K through Grade 7. Boston-based Lineage Capital invests exclusively in owner-managed and family-controlled businesses.
“As in past transactions, the Abacus team provided fast and efficient execution and was able to give us the certainty we needed to close in a short timeframe,” said Lineage Capital Managing Partner Mark Sullivan.
“We are happy to support Bellwether Media, a company has been performing extremely well,” said Tim Clifford, President and CEO of Abacus Finance. “As in other transactions, our success was a function of our speed, cash-flow flexibility, and certainty of close – key aspects of what we call our Total Partnership Approach™.”
“Lineage is always excellent to work with and is a great partner for management teams,” added Abacus Managing Director Eric Petersen.
Abacus team members involved in the transaction included Eric Petersen, Rafal Rydzewski, and Greg Scanlon. Legal counsel was provided to Abacus by Goulston & Storrs, PC.
About Bellwether Media
Minnetonka, MN-based Bellwether Media is a leading publisher of educational children’s books for students in Pre-K through Grade 7. The Company offers engaging, literacy-promoting content through four well-recognized brands: Bellwether, Jump!, Bearport, and Kaleidoscope. Their award-winning books are widely recognized by librarians and educators as the best nonfiction titles for beginning and struggling readers. Bellwether, along with its three associated brands, publishes literacy-promoting books for the school library, classroom, and public library markets. The Company is differentiated by the quality and consistency of its products as well as top-notch customer service and support. Bellwether maintains a portfolio of ~7,500 nonfiction titles that address a wide variety of subject matter and student segments, including early literacy, at-risk literacy, and STEM. For additional information, please visit bellwethermedia.com.
About Lineage Capital
Boston-based Lineage Capital invests exclusively in owner-managed and family-controlled businesses. Its unique partnership approach provides business owners with significant liquidity, while enabling them to retain a meaningful ownership position and continued control of the board of directors. They focus on high-quality, lower-middle-market businesses that seek a value-added partner to help facilitate future growth and success. For more information, please visit lineagecapital.com.
About Abacus Finance Group, LLC
Abacus Finance is a leading direct lending company, focused on providing cash flow senior financing to private equity/family office-sponsored, lower middle-market companies across diverse industries. Since Abacus’s inception in 2011, it has closed over $3 billion in financings. The firm targets private debt financing opportunities of up to $50 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 212-850-462 or cliffordt@abacusfinance.com. Please visit abacusfinance.com for more information.
The Total Partnership Approach™, a registered trademark of Abacus Finance, LLC, brings together cash-flow financing expertise, deep industry knowledge and exceptional client service over the lifecycle of each investment – all providing our sponsors with certainty of close and giving them peace of mind. Our team’s deep industry knowledge combined with an obsession for efficiency results in a turnaround time of under 72 hours. This swift response time is just one aspect of our Total Partnership Approach™ – a comprehensive methodology that reflects our emphasis on growing relationships rather than just focusing on the number of transactions.
Why should you Count on Us™? The answer lies in the deep partnerships we forge by going well above and beyond what sponsors traditionally have come to expect. We don’t believe in the phrase “good enough.” We push ourselves to create custom financing solutions tailored for each company – deals are started from the ground up, and we work side-by-side with the private equity sponsors we serve during each stage of the transaction life cycle.