Long's Drugs Incorporated ("Long's"), headquartered in Columbia, SC, is a retail and specialty pharmacy serving the SC, NC and GA markets. Founded in 1951 as a family-oriented business, Long's has maintained its tradition of providing excellent customer service and value while demonstrating strong growth through new store openings and acquisitions. The $79 million financing facility supports an investment by Tailwind Capital ("Tailwind") and Long's management in the future growth potential of the company. Tailwind is a private equity firm focused on investing in growth-oriented middle market companies. 

Healthcare Finance Group, LLC ("HFG"), a portfolio company of Fifth Street Finance Corp. ("Fifth Street"), acted as sole lead arranger, administrative agent and lender for a $66 million senior debt facility and Fifth Street acted as administrative agent, sole lead arranger and lender for a $13 million subordinated debt facility. 

Geoffrey S. Raker, Partner of Tailwind, commented, "We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work with the HFG team who successfully executed the senior debt syndication. We look forward to having HFG, as well as Fifth Street, as our debt partner on other transactions in the future."  

Jim Gelwicks, Head of Capital Markets and Business Development for HFG, said, "We appreciate Tailwind's confidence in HFG's ability to fully underwrite the senior debt and close the transaction. This transaction illustrates HFG's ability to agent cash flow senior debt, as well as the benefit of working with Fifth Street to support a company's expansion. We look forward to executing other healthcare transactions where both HFG and Fifth Street can work together in support of middle market healthcare companies."   

Long's Drugs Incorporated, headquartered Columbia, SC, operates out of 20 locations in SC, NC and GA, serving over 36,000 patients per month and filling over 1.7 million prescriptions per year. Long's provides retail pharmacy services through 18 stores and distributes specialty pharmaceuticals for the treatment of chronic and other diseases. Additionally, Long's provides pharmacy services to mental health and long-term care facilities.

Tailwind Capital is a leading private equity firm investing in growth-oriented middle market companies in healthcare and business and communications services. Tailwind partners with management teams to build value through internal growth, acquisitions, and operational and strategic developments. Representative healthcare investments include Cumberland Consulting Group (healthcare IT consulting) and VersaPharm (generic pharmaceuticals).

HFG was formed in 2000 and is one of the oldest national specialty finance lenders exclusively dedicated to providing debt to middle-market healthcare companies. HFG is a portfolio company of Fifth Street Finance Corp., one of the largest publicly-traded business development companies by market capitalization in the U.S.