Hunter Street Partners partnered with Five Crowns Credit Partners to provide an $11 million senior secured term loan to finance TriStruX, the holding company resulting from a merger between Telcom Engineering Group and one of its regional competitors, Leone Electric Company. The recently combined company is a wireless infrastructure and service provider majority owned and led by CEO Frank Pena and COO Nick Leone.
“We’re excited to support the growth of TriStruX and believe strongly in its leadership’s vision,” Andrew Platt, partner at Hunter Street, said. “Along with Five Crowns we identified an off-market opportunity and designed a creative and beneficial financing solution for all parties involved.”
“We’re confident that the TriStruX team has created an ideal platform to consolidate the communication infrastructure sector and we’re eager to help them execute on their strategy,” Chris Taylor, managing director at Five Crowns, said.
“The expansion of 5G technology and the fragmented nature of the telecommunication infrastructure industry should allow for the company to capitalize on the positive momentum captured by this merger,” Neal Johnson, CEO and CIO of Hunter Street, said. “We look forward to assisting in the success of our new partners.”
“Through the partnership with Hunter Street and Five Crowns, we’re well positioned for organic growth and supported for future inorganic growth,” Pena said. “We believe the industry is set for consolidation and we are on the lookout for acquisitions that fit our business model and provide value for our customers.”
“We’re encouraged by the industry tailwinds that have propelled TriStruX, including market catalysts such as network diversification, spectrum scarcity, the internet-of-things and content delivery networks,” Leone said. “With the help and expertise of our partners at Hunter Street and Five Crowns, we’re excited to continue on our journey of increasing scale while providing the highest quality service for our customers.”
Hunter Street Partners is a Minneapolis-based alternative investment management firm that provides capital solutions to operating partner teams and lower middle market companies across corporate finance, real estate and specialty finance.
Five Crowns is a Newport Beach, CA-based investment firm that makes equity investments in lower middle market businesses and provides financing solutions for acquisitions, shareholder buyouts, dividend recaps and various growth initiatives.
