Abacus Finance Group, a New York-based specialty finance company, announced that it served as administrative agent and sole lead arranger of $25 million in senior cash-flow financing to support the leveraged buyout of Z-Medica Corporation by DW Healthcare Partners (DWHP). In addition to providing the financing, Abacus, which focuses exclusively on providing cash-flow financing for private equity-sponsored, lower middle-market companies, made an equity co-investment in Z-Medica.
Zions Bank participated in the financing of the transaction, CMC Consulting (Boston office) acted as financial advisor to Z-Medica, and Goulston & Storrs, provided legal counsel to Abacus,
Based in Wallingford, CT, Z-Medica is a medical products company that develops innovative hemostatic agents. Headquartered in Park City, UT, DW Healthcare Partners is a private equity firm managing over $465 million in capital focused exclusively on the healthcare industry.
“This was a new relationship for us,” said Doug Schillinger, a managing director of DW Healthcare Partners, “and it proved to be a terrific one. The team at Abacus responded quickly, was tremendously enthusiastic, and gave us certainty of a close early on. They are definitely a firm we will turn to going forward.”
“DW Healthcare Partners’ exclusive focus on healthcare is a perfect match for us in terms of both our investment focus and our prior transaction experience,” said Tim Clifford, president and CEO of Abacus. “DWHP brought us a profitable and growing company in Z-Medica, a market leader with an impressive management team which will be led by Larry Hicks, a seasoned healthcare executive. What was especially important to both DWHP and Z-Medica was our substantial experience within healthcare, being easy to work with, and our flexibility in structuring this financing – all important aspects of what we call our Total Partnership ApproachTM.”