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CLEARLAKE CAPITAL ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF $70 MILLION INVESTMENT IN GOAMERICA
Led $125 Million Investment with Debt Financing from Churchill Financial and Ableco Finance; Represents Latest Investment from Clearlake’s Inaugural Fund
NEW YORK, NY – January 21, 2008 – Clearlake Capital Group (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”), an investment firm that integrates private equity, leveraged finance and special-situations investing, today announced that it led $125 million in financing for GoAmerica, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOAM; “GoAmerica”), a leading provider of integrated communications solutions serving the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Clearlake’s investment consisted of $40 million in equity and $30 million in second-lien debt. Churchill Financial and Ableco Finance (“Ableco”), an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, joined the financing, providing $55 million of first-lien senior debt including an unfunded revolver facility. Clearlake committed $110 million of debt and equity financing at signing to facilitate the transactions.
The investment enabled GoAmerica to execute a three-way strategic combination that included the carve-out and asset purchase of Verizon’s Tele-Relay Services Division and a merger with Hands On Video Relay Services. Steve Chang and Behdad Eghbali of Clearlake, have joined GoAmerica’s board of directors.
“We are pleased to have sponsored the combination of GoAmerica, Verizon’s TRS division, and Hands On Services,” said Behdad Eghbali, a partner at Clearlake. “As a leader in its markets, GoAmerica can now continue to invest in growth and innovation.”
Kevin Murray, managing director of Churchill Financial said “We are pleased to invest in GoAmerica and support Clearlake as the financial sponsor, as they executed on the simultaneous three-way combination and lead the business integration and transformation.”
Dan Luis, CEO of GoAmerica, said, “The Clearlake team was instrumental in structuring, financing and executing GoAmerica’s strategic merger and continues to play an active role in the company’s transformation. Our company now has the resources to achieve key initiatives.”
RECENT CLEARLAKE INVESTMENTS
Since inception in 2007, Clearlake has led more than $400 million in investments along with coinvestors and has achieved two successful realizations. Clearlake takes a patient investment approach, based on long-term capital, to invest in businesses going through change or expansion. Recent investments include:
Buy.com: Equity investment in Buy.com, a growing and profitable online retailer. Clearlake was the first outside investor in the privately held company.
CompuDyne Corporation: Led equity and debt investment backing the take-private acquisition of CompuDyne, which was sponsored by the Gores Group. CompuDyne is a leader in sophisticated security products and technology for the public security markets. Carlyle Mezzanine Partners also participated in the transaction.
International Textile Group: Co-led investment with Canyon Capital to provide debt to fund the global expansion of ITG. ITG is a global, diversified textile manufacturer with annual revenues in excess of $1.0 billion, majority owned by WL Ross & Co.
Triax Pharmaceuticals: Co-led an acquisition financing round for Triax, a pharmaceutical company focused on dermatology, in partnership with Laminar Direct Capital, a member of the D. E. Shaw group, and AIG Investments. The investment was structured as debt with warrants.
“We are excited about the investments we have made during our first year of operations,” said Jose E. Feliciano, a partner at Clearlake. “These investments reflect our creativity and flexibility in structuring complex transactions.”
“We look forward to partnering and building relationships with our portfolio company management teams and other stakeholders,” said Steven Chang, a partner at Clearlake. “In this investment environment, we continue to see attractive opportunities to provide flexible, long-term capital solutions for companies that are going through a transition or looking to expand.”
ABOUT CLEARLAKE CAPITAL GROUP
Clearlake Capital Group is a private investment firm integrating private equity, leveraged finance, and special situations in both private and public market opportunities. Clearlake Capital seeks to partner with world-class management teams to invest in businesses going through change or expansion with patient long-term capital. The firm has a flexible mandate to invest across the capital structure in corporate divestitures, recapitalizations, restructurings, going private buyouts and minority equity investments. Clearlake Capital’s founding principals, Steven Chang, Behdad Eghbali, and Jose E. Feliciano, have led over 30 investments totaling more than $3 billion of capital in sectors including business services, communications and media, energy and power, healthcare, manufacturing, retail/consumer and technology. For more information, please visit www.clearlakecapital.com.
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