H.I.G. Capital Announces the Sale of Cornerstone Chemical Company
- #AmmoniaPlant--H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment
firm with approximately $22 billion of equity capital under management,
is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has entered into a
definitive agreement to sell its portfolio company, Cornerstone Chemical
Company (“Cornerstone” or the “Company”), to an affiliate of Littlejohn
& Co. LLC (“Littlejohn”), a leading private investment firm.
Strategically located on the Mississippi River, Cornerstone is a leading manufacturer of high quality intermediate chemicals, including acrylonitrile, melamine, sulfuric acid, and other chemical products. Cornerstone’s products are used in a wide variety of major end markets including fracking, building products, transportation, and other downstream chemicals. Since its carve-out from Cytec Industries in 2011, Cornerstone has focused on leveraging its North America petrochemical advantage to grow its global customer base and expand its product offering. In addition, Cornerstone successfully commissioned an $850 million ammonia plant together with an onsite partner in 2016.
Greg Zoglio, Cornerstone’s CEO, said, “This is a very exciting new chapter for our company and a strong endorsement for Cornerstone and our highly talented workforce. H.I.G. has been a highly value-added partner, helping us transform Cornerstone into a unique customer-driven platform with exciting growth opportunities ahead.”
Keval Patel, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, commented, “We have enjoyed working with the Cornerstone team to create a market-leading platform in intermediate chemicals. The Cornerstone team’s strategic vision and solid execution has resulted in an outstanding investment outcome and another success story for our growing chemicals practice. Cornerstone has a very bright future and we look forward to watching Greg and team achieve continued success in this next chapter.”
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in August 2017. KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. served as financial advisor to Cornerstone. Goldman Sachs is providing committed financing to Littlejohn.
About Cornerstone
Headquartered in Waggaman, LA, Cornerstone is a producer of a wide-range of intermediate chemicals, including acrylonitrile, melamine, sulfuric acid and other products to a diverse set of customers in high-growth end-markets. The Company operates a state of the art 800-acre chemical complex, located in the U.S. Gulf Coast with full transportation and logistics capabilities, long-term onsite partners and significant infrastructure for expansion. Cornerstone employs approximately 460 people across North America and Europe.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with approximately $22 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:
1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.
* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.
ContactsH.I.G. Capital
Rick Rosen, 305-379-2322
Executive Managing Director
[email protected]
or
Keval Patel, 305-379-2322
Managing Director
[email protected]
or
Caroline Kung, 305-379-2322
Principal
[email protected]
&source=" target="_blank" />
MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AmmoniaPlant–H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment
firm with approximately $22 billion of equity capital under management,
is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has entered into a
definitive agreement to sell its portfolio company, Cornerstone Chemical
Company (“Cornerstone” or the “Company”), to an affiliate of Littlejohn
& Co. LLC (“Littlejohn”), a leading private investment firm.
Strategically located on the Mississippi River, Cornerstone is a leading
manufacturer of high quality intermediate chemicals, including
acrylonitrile, melamine, sulfuric acid, and other chemical products.
Cornerstone’s products are used in a wide variety of major end markets
including fracking, building products, transportation, and other
downstream chemicals. Since its carve-out from Cytec Industries in 2011,
Cornerstone has focused on leveraging its North America petrochemical
advantage to grow its global customer base and expand its product
offering. In addition, Cornerstone successfully commissioned an $850
million ammonia plant together with an onsite partner in 2016.
Greg Zoglio, Cornerstone’s CEO, said, “This is a very exciting new
chapter for our company and a strong endorsement for Cornerstone and our
highly talented workforce. H.I.G. has been a highly value-added partner,
helping us transform Cornerstone into a unique customer-driven platform
with exciting growth opportunities ahead.”
Keval Patel, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, commented, “We have
enjoyed working with the Cornerstone team to create a market-leading
platform in intermediate chemicals. The Cornerstone team’s strategic
vision and solid execution has resulted in an outstanding investment
outcome and another success story for our growing chemicals practice.
Cornerstone has a very bright future and we look forward to watching
Greg and team achieve continued success in this next chapter.”
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is
expected to close in August 2017. KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. served as
financial advisor to Cornerstone. Goldman Sachs is providing committed
financing to Littlejohn.
About Cornerstone
Headquartered in Waggaman, LA, Cornerstone is a producer of a wide-range
of intermediate chemicals, including acrylonitrile, melamine, sulfuric
acid and other products to a diverse set of customers in high-growth
end-markets. The Company operates a state of the art 800-acre chemical
complex, located in the U.S. Gulf Coast with full transportation and
logistics capabilities, long-term onsite partners and significant
infrastructure for expansion. Cornerstone employs approximately 460
people across North America and Europe.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets
investment firm with approximately $22 billion of equity capital under
management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston,
Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as
well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid,
Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes
in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized
companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added
approach:
1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations
and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming
manufacturing and service businesses.
2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt
financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary
(direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G.
is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of
vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which
can benefit from improved asset management practices.
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than
200 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than
100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more
information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.
* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and
affiliates.
Contacts
H.I.G. Capital
Rick Rosen, 305-379-2322
Executive Managing
Director
[email protected]
or
Keval
Patel, 305-379-2322
Managing Director
[email protected]
or
Caroline
Kung, 305-379-2322
Principal
[email protected]
