Castle Harlan Acquires Securus Technologies

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Nov 10, 2011, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Castle Harlan, Inc., a leading global private equity investment firm, today announced the acquisition of Securus Technologies, Inc. from H.I.G. Capital, a private equity firm based in Miami, FL. The transaction closed on May 31, 2011.

Securus Technologies is the leading provider of secure inmate telecommunications for the corrections industry, serving 2,200 facilities across 44 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. It installs and centrally manages state-of-the-art call management and communications systems for use by prisons and jails, and offers a variety of convenient payment products and services to inmates and their friends and family members.

"We are excited to be partnering with Castle Harlan for the next stage of the company's growth," said Richard A. Smith, CEO and President of Securus Technologies. "With the addition of Castle Harlan's broad business experience and financial expertise, we are confident that our company's future operations will continue to be greatly enhanced."

Castle Harlan said that the current management of Securus Technologies, which has been highly successful at Securus and in prior roles in the telecommunications industry, will be partners in the investment and will remain in place.

"Securus is the technological leader in its field and has an exceptional management team with great depth and experience in telecommunications. We believe that Securus is uniquely positioned to continue to grow in the corrections market," said William Pruellage, Co-President of Castle Harlan.

"Securus' competitive advantages have already started to produce results during our ownership and we are confident that the management team will lead the company to continued growth and success," said Anand Philip, a Castle Harlan Managing Director.

About Castle Harlan

Castle Harlan, founded in 1987, invests in controlling interests in the buyout and development of middle-market companies in North America and Europe. Its team of 19 investment professionals has completed 53 acquisitions since its inception with a total value in excess of $10 billion. Castle Harlan currently manages investment funds with equity commitments of approximately $3.5 billion. The firm traces its roots to the start of the institutionalized private-equity business in the late 1960s.

Castle Harlan's current portfolio of companies, which employ more than 36,000 people, includes IDQ Holdings, Inc., the industry leader in Do-it-Yourself, branded products for servicing and repairing automotive air conditioners; Pretium Packaging LLC, one of the country's leading manufacturers of custom-designed specialty plastic containers for the food, pharmaceutical, personal-care and household markets; and Baker & Taylor, the world's largest distributor of books and entertainment products to libraries and retailers. For more information, please refer to the Castle Harlan website at www.castleharlan.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. Capital is a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $8.5 billion of equity capital under management. Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, New York, and San Francisco in the U.S., as well as affiliate offices in London, Hamburg and Paris in Europe, H.I.G. specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential. H.I.G. invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable and well-managed service or manufacturing businesses. H.I.G. also has extensive experience with financial restructurings and operational turnarounds. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.