H.I.G. Capital Completes Acquisition of Pixelle Specialty Solutions

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#BarriersCoating–H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global alternative investment firm with over $49 billion of equity under management, is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has completed the acquisition of Pixelle Specialty Solutions Holding LLC (“Pixelle” or the “Company”).

Headquartered in Spring Grove, PA, Pixelle is a leading provider of fiber-based specialty solutions in North America. Pixelle owns and operates four industry-leading specialty paper mills located in Chillicothe, OH, Jay, ME, Spring Grove, PA, and Stevens Point, WI. Collectively the mills operate 11 paper machines and produce more than one million tons of paper annually.

Timothy Hess, Pixelle’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “Pixelle has developed a broad, innovative portfolio of industry leading brands across the specialty papers and sustainable packaging markets. In under four years, we have transformed Pixelle into the leading specialty-focused paper producer in North America through three strategic acquisitions and successful implementation of a continuous improvement program. We are proud of our accomplishments and look forward to our next chapter with H.I.G. Capital.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Tim and the management team, who have a proven track record of building a best-in-class business and providing the highest levels of quality and service for their customers,” said Tenno Tsai, Head of North American Industrials at H.I.G. “We are excited about the combination of H.I.G.’s value-added partnership with Pixelle’s differentiated capabilities in technically demanding specialty papers to embark on the next phase of growth.”

Credit Suisse and Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisors and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP served as legal counsel to Pixelle. Macquarie Capital and Jefferies acted as financial advisors and Ropes & Gray LLP acted as legal counsel to H.I.G.

About Pixelle

Pixelle Specialty Solutions® is the largest and fastest-growing manufacturer of specialty papers in North America with one of the most comprehensive portfolios in the industry. Through innovation, quality and expertise, Pixelle delivers high-performance solutions that help customers boost brand appeal, improve customer experience and support sustainability goals. For more information, visit pixelle.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global alternative assets investment firm with over $49 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

  1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
  2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
  3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
  4. H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.

Contacts

Tenno Tsai
Head of North American Industrials
ttsai@higcapital.com

Rich Zhang
Principal
rzhang@higcapital.com

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