NEW YORK, April 5, 2011 – ICV Partners (ICV), a private investment firm focused on investments in smaller middle market companies, announced today the acquisition of Cargo Airport Services (CAS), a leading provider of innovative cargo handling solutions, from MidMark Capital, the Weinberg Bell Group and other shareholders. Chief Executive Officer Michael Duffy and the CAS executive team have also invested in the transaction.
Founded in 1998, CAS has grown rapidly and today handles 1 million tons of cargo, making it the second largest independent handling company in North America. The Company operates 21 facilities in 12 airports. CAS is the largest cargo handler at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and George Bush Intercontinental in Houston and is the second largest at Newark International, Dulles International in Washington, D.C., and Toronto Pearson International. CAS’ customers include many of the world’s leading air carriers such as Air China, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Cargolux, China Airlines, Emirates Airlines, Korean Air and UPS. CAS’ services include cargo handling, ramp loading, warehousing, security screening and cargo tracking.
“CAS has a unique business model and a management team that has held senior positions running cargo operations for major airlines and consequently, has a deep understanding of CAS’ customers’ needs,” said Lloyd Metz, Managing Director of ICV. “We are excited to work with Mike Duffy and the CAS leadership team in growing the Company through expansion into new markets and through acquisition.”
“We built our company by providing outstanding customer service and being a flexible, North American partner to our global customers,” said Mr. Duffy. “There is opportunity to follow our customers to new airports, and we continue to add new contracts each quarter at our existing markets. We have a winning formula but we work hard every day to be better. We are proud of our new partnership with ICV.”
“We have looked at several outsourced services companies over the last two years,” said Zeena Rao, Principal of ICV. “CAS is well positioned to take advantage of the trends and opportunities in the air cargo industry and we are thrilled to be backing one of the best management teams in the industry.”
Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: PSEC), and ICV was advised by Kirkland & Ellis and Ernst & Young. BB&T Capital Markets advised CAS. This is the seventh investment from ICV’s $313 million second fund and is the third platform investment made by ICV in the last 6 months.
About ICV Partners
Founded in 1998, ICV Partners is a leading private investment firm that supports management leaders of strong companies at the lower end of the middle market. With over $440 million in capital under management, the principals of ICV have crafted a strong track record of helping companies improve performance over the long term, investing more than $285 million in 19 companies across a variety of industries. ICV seeks to make control investments in market leading businesses with $25 million to $250 million in revenue.