CIT Group Inc. announced that it has arranged a $117.5 million senior secured credit facility to TrustHouse Services Group, Inc. to finance its acquisition of Valley Services, Inc., a national food service management company and one of the largest meal providers in the country. TrustHouse is a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, a premier San Francisco-based middle market private equity firm.
CIT Sponsor Finance served as Joint Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner, and Administrative Agent for the transaction. Financing was provided by CIT Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CIT. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We are pleased to provide this financing to support TrustHouse’s acquisition of Valley Services,” said Eric Toizer, Managing Director of CIT Sponsor Finance. “TrustHouse now ranks as the nation’s sixth-largest food-services provider and the fourth-largest in the healthcare and education markets.”
Keith Stimson, a Partner at Gryphon Investors, said: “Through the acquisition of Valley Services, TrustHouse is continuing its growth strategy to create a world-class food services business. We selected CIT to help lead the financing of this transaction because of the firm’s proven track record of supporting our businesses. Our longstanding relationship and familiarity with the CIT deal team served to provide flexibility and structuring guidance, which helped us close this transaction in an efficient manner.”
With its latest acquisition, TrustHouse significantly increased its geographic footprint and will.
TrustHouse Services Group is a leader in the Healthcare and Education-focused food services space and manages over 400 client accounts across more than 30 states. TrustHouse is headquartered in Charlotte, NC, and was founded by Michael J. Bailey and Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco-based premier middle market private equity firm.
Valley is a national food service management company based in Jackson, Mississippi. Since 1960, it has provided contract food service management. It serves nearly 300,000 meals per day across the United States, employs more than 2,500 production employees, 50 registered dietitians, and 200 managers, and has more than 200 client accounts, including hospitals, colleges and universities, industrial cafeterias, commercial and office building cafeterias, senior nutrition services, meals on wheels programs, correctional facilities, and daycare facilities.
Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors focuses on leveraged acquisitions of, and growth investments in, middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. Having managed $1 billion of discretionary equity capital, Gryphon has an extensive track record of investing $25 to $75 million of its own capital in companies whose sales range from $25 to $250 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form proactive partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon’s capital, professional resources, and operational expertise.
CIT Sponsor Finance provides cash flow and asset based senior debt for private equity backed transactions in the middle market throughout the United States and Canada. With nearly $10 billion in commitments to companies owned by private equity sponsors across the various industries, CIT is one of the largest providers of capital to middle market private equity firms. CIT has completed more than 150 transactions in the past five years with more than 100 different private equity sponsors.