Bear Stearns Merchant Banking is buying CamelBak Products and has tapped BNP Paribas and Bank of New York to lead the debt financing. A source said the deal is being funded with $80 million of bank debt, $100 million of equity and approximately $40 million of subordinated notes. Bear Stearns placed the sub notes directly, said a source. The purchase price is approximately $220 million.
The bank debt is split into a $20 million, five-year revolver that will be untapped when the acquisition closes, and an $80 million, six-year term loan. Pricing on the bank debt is being talked in the LIBOR plus 41Ž4% range, said the source. There will be a bank meeting held this Tuesday in New York. There are no immediate plans to rate the loan, he noted. The EBITDA is $28 million, which gives the senior debt a 2.8 times multiple and the total debt is 4.3 times. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of this year.
Calif.-based CamelBak is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad line of hands free hydration packs that serves the recreational, industrial and military markets. The source said the market share is in excess of 80% in its space. He said the bidding process was competitive, but declined to comment on why Bear Stearns Merchant Banking selected BNY and BNP Paribas, rather than Bear Stearns' leveraged finance group. A spokesman for the private equity firm did not return calls and bankers at the lead firms declined comment.