European Capital Receives Proceeds Of EUR 28.8 Million And Achieves A 1.7x Money Multiple From Alliance Automotive Group Refinancing

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Dec 10, 2013, 06:00 ET

ST. PETER PORT, Guernsey, Dec. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- European Capital Limited and its consolidated subsidiaries ("European Capital") announced today that they have received proceeds of €28.8 million from exiting their two investments in Alliance Industrie and Financiere Alliance Industrie (together forming the "Alliance Automotive Group" or "the Company"). European Capital's exit comes as Alliance Automotive Group's shareholders have decided to refinance its indebtedness with a €185 million high-yield private bond. European Capital realized a 1.8x money multiple and 11% IRR on its investment in Alliance Industrie and a 1.1x money multiple and 24% IRR on its investment in Financiere Alliance Industrie.

The Company, owned by Weinberg Capital Partners ("Weinberg") and its founders since 2006, serves as a key link between its referenced automotive spare parts suppliers and a broad network of nearly 1500 distribution outlets in France and the UK, of which 160 are fully owned. Alliance Automotive Group has a long and successful background of consolidating independent distributors and creating synergies from these acquisitions. It is now the #1 automotive spare parts distributor in the French market and the # 2 in the UK market. In 2012, Alliance Automotive Group realized pro forma sales of €1,143 million. For more information, please visit www.allianceautomotivegroup.eu.

European Capital supported the Weinberg buy-out in 2006 by providing €6 million of second lien and €13 million of mezzanine. In 2013, European Capital financed the acquisition of Precisium Groupe, a direct competitor of Alliance Industrie, through an additional €4 million of mezzanine.

"We are very pleased with the outcome of this transaction," said Tristan Parisot, Managing Director of European Capital Financial Services Limited ("ECFS"). "This investment fits with our strategy of backing leading companies that consolidate within their market and have strong and committed management teams".

"Since our initial investment in 2006, we have been impressed by the Company's repeated success in delivering substantial growth, both organic and through acquisitions, and by the business' resilience during the downturn," said Stephane Legrand, Managing Director of ECFS. "We were particularly excited in supporting the acquisition of Precisium Groupe this year, which enabled the management team to create the #1 automotive spare parts distributor in Europe".

"European Capital was a strong and supportive financing partner over the last seven years," said Jean-Jacques Lafont, President of Alliance Automotive Group. "They were committed to our growth strategy and arranged mezzanine financing for our acquisition of Precisium Groupe earlier in the year."

"European Capital showed a deep understanding of the Company's business and offered the flexible financing solutions we needed, especially for the acquisition of Precisium Groupe," said Philippe Klocanas, Partner at Weinberg Capital Partners.

ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL
European Capital is an investment company for pan-European equity, mezzanine and senior debt investments with €1.0 billion in assets under management. European Capital is a wholly-owned affiliate of American Capital, Ltd ("American Capital"). It is managed by European Capital Asset Management Limited ("ECAM" or the "Investment Manager"), a wholly-owned affiliate of American Capital. The Investment Manager has offices in London and Paris with 55 employees. Since its inception, European Capital Limited has invested €3.5 billion in over 100 companies in Europe. European Capital and its affiliates will consider senior and mezzanine debt investment opportunities from 10 million to 100 million in either euros or sterling and up to 400 million for One Stop Buyouts^®. For further information, please refer to www.EuropeanCapital.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL
American Capital (Nasdaq: ACAS) is a publicly traded private equity firm and global asset manager. American Capital, both directly and through its asset management business, originates, underwrites and manages investments in middle market private equity, leveraged finance, real estate and structured products. American Capital manages $ 20 billion of assets, including assets on its balance sheet and fee earning assets under management by affiliated managers, with $117 billion of total assets under management (including levered assets). Through an affiliate, American Capital manages publicly traded American Capital Agency Corp. (Nasdaq: AGNC) with approximately $10 billion of net book value and American Capital Mortgage Investment Corp. (Nasdaq: MTGE) with approximately $1 billion of net book value. From its eight offices in the U.S. and Europe, American Capital and its affiliate, European Capital, will consider investment opportunities from $10 million to $750 million. For further information, please refer to www.AmericanCapital.com.