Crystal Financial LLC, an independent commercial finance company, and Crystal Financial SBIC LP announced the closing of a $20.0 million Senior Term Loan for Alfred Music Publishing Co., Inc. (“Alfred Music”). Founded in 1922 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the company is the world’s largest publisher of educational music products with over 184,000 print and digital products sold at over 10,000 retailers worldwide. Alfred Music produces educational, reference music, pop, and performance materials for teachers, students, professionals, and hobbyist musicians across all types of instruments, music styles, and difficulty levels.
Proceeds from the facility were used to refinance existing debt and to provide incremental liquidity for growth. The loan matures in March 2018.
“Alfred Music continues to be the gold standard in music education, helping the world experience the joy of making music, and we are thrilled to be on this journey together”, noted Stephen Krawchuk, Crystal’s Managing Director.
“We are pleased to be working with Crystal as our financing partner and we are impressed with their ability to understand our business, its needs, and opportunities. Crystal was both creative and responsive and delivered on the structure they proposed”, said Ron Manus, Alfred Music’s CEO.
Alfred Music’s home office is located in Los Angeles, with domestic offices in Miami, Nashville, and New York as well as offices around the world including Australia, Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Since 1922, Alfred Music has been dedicated to helping people learn, teach, and play music. Alfred Music currently has over 150,000 active titles. Alfred Music represents a wide range of well-known publications—from methods like Alfred’s Basic Guitar, Alfred’s Basic Piano Library, Premier Piano Course, Sound Innovations, and Suzuki, to artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars, Cole Porter, fun., George and Ira Gershwin, John Lennon, Katy Perry, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and The Who, to brands like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Rolling Stone magazine, and Billboard.
Alfred Music owns and licenses a wide range of imprints including Belwin, Highland/Etling, Kalmus, and Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. In addition to its own titles, Alfred Music distributes products from over 50 companies, including Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, Dover Publications, Drum Channel, Faber Music, MakeMusic, Inc., Penguin, and WEA.
Crystal Financial LLC, a portfolio company of Solar Capital Ltd., is an independent commercial finance company that provides senior and junior secured loans for both asset-based and cash flow financings (minimum of $10 million in fundings) to middle-market companies. Its team of experienced, responsive professionals has underwritten, closed and managed more than $20 billion in secured debt commitments across a wide range of industries.