Bethesda, MD -- American Capital Strategies, Ltd. (Nasdaq:ACAS) today announced it invested $13 million in senior subordinated debt with warrants in Clear Communications Group and committed an additional $4.5 million shelf facility for future acquisitions. Clear Communications Group is a leading engineering and construction services provider to the telecommunications industry that builds wireless and wireline telecommunications networks for fiber, cable, carriers and tower owners. Stratford Capital Partners also participated as an equity investor in the transaction, joining Demuth, Folger & Wetherill, the initial institutional equity investor in Clear Group.
Stephen F. Johnston, Sr., the Chairman and CEO, founded Clear Group in 1991. He has over 20 years experience in the telecommunications and construction industries, and was an early participant in the development of cellular networks in the 1980s. He has built Clear Group through internal growth and a series of strategic acquisitions begun in 1997. With this acquisition financing, two additional companies will join the Clear Group. TWR Telecom (TWR), based in Houston, Texas builds wireless towers specializing in tall towers and telecommunications sites. McKenzie Telecommunications Group is a wireless site acquisition and zoning company that specializes in the pre-development phases of site construction. Following these transactions, Clear Group will be the largest independent wireless site engineering and construction company in the United States, having completed projects in every one of the continental United States and eleven foreign countries.
American Capital Principal Darin Winn commented, "This is a great company with a committed management team. They have a solid reputation for providing one-stop construction and engineering services to their customers who are building out the wireless telecommunications infrastructure. The rise in the number of wireless communications subscribers and the increase in the number of minutes of use per subscriber coupled with the development of new wireless technologies are driving the demand for additional wireless towers and sites. Clear Group is uniquely positioned for phenomenal growth in both the wireless and wireline networks. We look forward to working with this dynamic management team as American Capital expands its presence in the telecommunications field."
"In a highly fragmented industry, we successfully completed the integration of four companies we have acquired since 1997 and we are looking forward to expanding our services and our geographic reach with TWR and McKenzie," stated Johnston, the company's Chairman and CEO.
Adam Blumenthal, President and COO of American Capital commented, "Like Mobil Tool and StarCom Holdings, Clear is a company well-positioned to capitalize on the tremendous growth in our country's telecommunications infrastructure in the next century. This is our third acquisition financing of the fourth quarter. Two weeks ago, we participated in an acquisition financing for The Parts Plus Group. This is also the third transaction in which we worked with the group at Stratford Capital and we look forward to opportunities to work with them in the future."
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American Capital is a buyout and specialty finance company with capital resources exceeding $460 million. American Capital invests senior debt, subordinated debt and equity in businesses in need of capital for growth, acquisitions, ESOP buyouts, management buyouts, Internet development, liquidity and restructurings. Through www.Capital.com, financing is provided for receivable and inventory financing, working capital loans, machinery and equipment loans, real estate loans, construction financing, acquisition funding, management buyouts, ESOP financings, Internet development, liquidity and restructurings.
Companies interested in learning more about American Capital's flexible financing and ability to provide senior debt, subordinated debt and equity should contact Mark Opel, Principal, at (800) 248-9340, or visit our website.This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements regarding expected results of American Capital Strategies are subject to various factors and uncertainties, including the uncertainties associated with the timing of transaction closings, changes in interest rates, availability of transactions, changes in regional or national economic conditions, or changes in the conditions of the industries in which American Capital has made investments.
