Bain Capital Credit provided $50 million in growth financing to Merchants Fleet, a fleet management company. Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor and placement agent to Merchants Fleet.
The financing will support Merchants Fleet’s growth and its mission of bringing disruptive change to the fleet management industry, which impacts more than 3.2 million commercial cars and trucks.
“The fourth industrial revolution is pushing forward, being driven by societal and consumer shifts, and the fleet industry will see both evolutionary and revolutionary change,” Brendan P. Keegan, CEO of Merchants Fleet, said. “Over the past couple of years, Merchants Fleet has been embracing this change, and bringing to market comprehensive, innovative, flexible and specialized offerings that have impacted our clients tremendously and resulted in significant growth for our company. Bain Capital Credit has a long track record of providing flexible and scalable solutions for financing growth strategies, and we look forward to partnering with them as we continue to lead the disruptive change facing commercial fleets across North America.”
Businesses in virtually every industry with fleets of commercial vehicles, from one to more than 10,000, are being challenged to navigate the multiple driving forces behind the mobility movement, including connected vehicles, multi-modal transportation, efficiency requirements and data-driven intelligence. Merchants Fleet has positioned itself to disrupt the industry with its new FleetTech model, which combines processes, technology platforms, pilot programs and a network of strategic alliances to deliver solutions to clients.
“We are excited to support Brendan and the Merchants Fleet team as they expand and broaden their leadership position in the rapidly growing fleet management industry,” Olof Bergqvist, a managing director at Bain Capital Credit, said. “We believe Merchants Fleet is well-positioned to further differentiate itself in the marketplace through their technology-driven value proposition, innovative platform and customer-centric service offering. Bain Capital Credit looks forward to a lasting partnership with Merchants Fleet and their existing financing partners to help support the company’s thoughtfully constructed strategy.”
Bain Capital Credit is a global credit specialist with approximately $41 billion in assets under management. Bain Capital Credit invests up and down the capital structure and across the spectrum of credit strategies, including leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, distressed debt, private lending, structured products, non-performing loans and equities.
Houlihan Lokey is an investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring and valuation.
