New York, January 7, 2002 - Castle Harlan, Inc. the New York-based private equity investment firm, announced today that its Australian affiliate had completed the purchase of the Bradken group from the Smorgon Steel Company in a transaction valued at approximately US$93 million or A$185.5 million.
The affiliate, Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners (CHAMP), had announced in late October an agreement to acquire Bradken. Bradken is the market leader throughout Australia and New Zealand in the manufacture of tools for the mining industry, mineral processing equipment, wheel assemblies for railroad cars and industrial castings.
Bradken is based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It has annual sales of approximately US$150 million of A$300 million.
Castle Harlan also announced that Bill Ferris, executive chairman of CHAMP, based in Sydney, had been named chairman of Bradken's holding company, Bradken Resources Pty Ltd.
"Bradken has an outstanding management team led by Managing Director Brian Hodges, an experienced workforce and leading market poisitions," Ferris said. "We believe the group will continue to grow in all its divisions.
CHAMP provided a majority of the equity for the purchase. Additional equity came from ESCO Corporation of Portland, Oregon, and Bradken management. J.P. Morgan Chase arranged the debt financing. ESCOM, a metals technology company, licenses technology to Bradken for certain products.
The transaction was the second completed by CHAMP in recent weeks. In late October, CHAMP announced the acquisition of Penrice Soda Products Pty. Ltd. in a transaction valued at approximately US$43 million or A$85 million. Penrice is based in Adelaide, South Australia. Penrice is the sole producer of soda ash in Australia with more than 85 percent of the market.
CHAMP previously had completed the acquisition of Sheridan Australia, the country's largest manufacturer and marketer of bed and bath linens. Sheridan has distribution in more than 50 countries, including a strong presence in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The formation of CHAMP was announced in October 1999 by Castle Harlan and the Australian principals of CHAMP, Bill Ferris and Joe Skrynski. The firm subsequently raised the CHAMP I funds, with private equity commitments totaling approximately A$550 million from primarily U.S. and Australian institutional investors. CHAMP, one of the largest private equity firms in Australia, is successor to Australian Mezzanine Investments Pty. Ltd.