Essex Capital recently acted as an exclusive advisor and arranged a $6.147 million recapitalization for North Florida Shipyards.

Family-owned since 1977, North Florida Shipyards offers ship repair, conversion and dry-docking services to commercial and government clients such as the United States Navy. It operates out of two facilities located in downtown Jacksonville and the Mayport Naval Station.

The transaction consisted of a complete recapitalization of the company’s balance sheet through a new asset-based line of credit and an equipment term debt facility.

Rob Swain, president of Essex Capital, commented, “We were pleased to work with the principals and management of North Florida Shipyards. After enduring an almost ‘perfect storm’ of operational difficulties that were out of the company’s control, management will now be able to focus on their core business – servicing commercial and naval vessels. We were able to put a financing package together for the company that provided fresh liquidity and allow them to fully take advantage of new growth opportunities.”

Founded in 2003 and based in Tampa, FL, Essex Capital is a corporate finance firm serving small and middle market privately-held companies located throughout the United States.