NEW YORK, June 8, 2004 - Castle Harlan, Inc., the New York private-equity investment firm, announced today it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ames True Temper, a leading manufacturer and global marketer of lawn and garden tools and accessories. The transaction was valued at $380 million.
In business since 1774, the company is a North American market leader in certain lawn and garden products, such as long-handled tools, including rakes and shovels, as well as wheelbarrows, snow tools, striking tools and pots and planters.
The company's customers include such major retailers as Home Depot, Lowe's and Wal-Mart, as well as major hardware chains and similar stores throughout North America.
"Ames True Temper has a formidable market position," said Justin Wender, the Castle Harlan managing director who led the transaction. "It sells outstanding products with respected brand names and is run by strong, experienced managers."
The company's chief executive officer, Richard Dell, commented that "our management team welcomes the opportunity to partner with Castle Harlan to continue to build Ames True Temper."
Castle Harlan is buying Ames True Temper from Wind Point Partners, a private-equity firm based in Chicago that had acquired the company in early 2002.
Ames is the third major company that Castle Harlan has agreed to acquire since the beginning of May. Two weeks ago, it announced it had signed an agreement to buy Horizon Lines, a leading marine shipping company operating between the U.S. mainland and ports in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico. The value of the transaction was put at $650 million.
In early May, the firm announced it would acquire Caribbean Restaurants LLC, which owns 165 Burger King restaurants in Puerto Rico and is the most successful quick-service franchise on the island. The agreement set the purchase price at $340 million.
The equity capital for all three acquisitions will be provided by Castle Harlan Partners IV, L.P., a $1.163 billion investment fund that closed last August.
Founded in 1987, Castle Harlan is a leading New York private-equity investment firm, investing primarily in controlling interests in the buyout and development of middle-market companies in North America and Europe. Castle Harlan's team of nine managing directors, including its founders, has completed more than 60 acquisitions with a total value in excess of $7 billion. The firm traces its roots to the start of the institutionalized private-equity business in the late 1960s.
Castle Harlan also invests in Australia, New Zealand and the Australasian region through its Sydney-based affiliate, CHAMP, which is one of Australia's oldest and largest private equity firms.
Castle Harlan's portfolio companies, which employ more than 26,000 people, include AdobeAir, Inc., a leading manufacturer of evaporative coolers; Associated Packaging Technologies, the country's leading manufacturer of CPET containers for the frozen food industry; and Advanced Accessory Systems, the largest manufacturer of automotive roof racks and tow systems in North America and Europe.