CIT Group Inc. announced that it served as Joint Lead Arranger in a $225 million senior secured credit facility for Clearlake Capital Group, a private investment firm, to acquire AmQuip Crane Rental , one of the largest lifting solutions businesses in the United States.
CIT Corporate Finance served as joint lead arranger and syndication agent for the transaction. Financing was provided by CIT Bank, the U.S. commercial bank subsidiary of CIT. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We’re pleased to finance Clearlake Capital’s acquisition of AmQuip Crane Rental, a company that has been a customer of CIT for more than seven years,” said Eric Toizer, Managing Director, CIT Sponsor Finance. “As one of the leading crane rental businesses in the United States, AmQuip will serve as an important addition to Clearlake Capital’s growing portfolio. Our deep relationship with AmQuip and industry expertise were critical to completing this transaction. We look forward to growing this new relationship with Clearlake Capital as they continue to expand.”
José E. Feliciano, Founding Partner at Clearlake Capital, said, “This is a great acquisition for Clearlake. AmQuip’s executive management team and the technical expertise of its service managers and maintenance teams are well regarded in the industry. AmQuip is a leading provider of lifting solutions with strong franchise value that operates in attractive energy, industrial, and other end-markets throughout the U.S. Their fleet is well-maintained, diverse by asset class and capacity and has a leading safety record. We were pleased to work with CIT, whose experience and breadth of knowledge of AmQuip helped close this transaction.”
Albert Bove, Chief Executive Officer of AmQuip, said, “We’ve built a strong brand identity and reputation by focusing on specialized, complex lifting solutions in the relatively attractive and growing power, refinery, petrochemical, industrial and infrastructure end-markets. Clearlake Capital is the ideal partner for our company with a strong reputation as a dedicated, supportive sponsor. We’re pleased we could once again call on our long standing relationship with CIT to close this deal.”
Headquartered in Trevose, PA, AmQuip is one of the largest providers of highly specialized, complex lifting solutions, offering a differentiated value proposition to its customers in North America. A leader in the crane rental and solutions market, AmQuip owns a fleet of approximately 500 cranes and specializes in the provision of fully operated rental services, bare rentals, value added consultation services and complete setup and logistics support to its target clientele in the energy and industrials sectors.
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a private investment firm focused on special situations and private equity investments such as corporate divestitures, recapitalizations, buyouts, reorganizations, and other equity investments. Clearlake seeks to partner with world class management teams by providing patient, long term capital and operational expertise to invest in dynamic businesses. Clearlake currently manages approximately $1.4 billion of equity capital, and Clearlake’s founding principals have led over 70 investments totaling more than $3 billion of capital in sectors including business services, communication, consumer products/retail, defense/public safety, energy/power, healthcare, industrials, media, software and technology.
CIT Corporate Finance provides lending, leasing and other financial and advisory services to the middle market with a focus on specific industries, including: Aerospace & Defense, Business Services, Communications, Energy, Entertainment, Gaming, Healthcare, Industrials, Information Services & Technology, Restaurants, Retail, Sports & Media and Transportation.