Crescent Capital Partners III
Crescent Capital Partners III is managed by Sydney based Crescent Capital Partners (www.crescentcap.com.au). Founded in 2000 Crescent is owned and controlled by its executives whose interests are closely aligned with the long term return on investors funds through performance fees and their own investments in each of their funds.
Crescent's previous funds, Crescent Capital Partners Growth Fund ($25 million, raised 2001) and Crescent Capital Partners II ($100 million, raised 2004) have each achieved top quartile performance for their respective vintage years.
In 2003 Crescent won AVCAL's Buyout of the Year Award for their management buyout investment in the James Hardie Industries windows business, Trend / Breezeway, which achieved a return of 375% per annum for the Crescent Capital Partners Growth Fund.
The Crescent Capital Partners III fund is focused on investing in small to mid market sized expansion and buyout opportunities in Australia and New Zealand with enterprise value in the range of $50 million to $250million.
Investments completed to date by Crescent Capital Partners III include Steel-Line Garage Doors, Billy Hyde Music Group, Life Audiology and Metro Glass.
Steel-Line Garage Doors manufactures, distributes and installs garage doors and associated remote control units under the brands "Steel-Line" and "BOSS". The company is Australia's second largest player in the domestic garage door market and employs over 250 staff and 160 installation contractors.
The company has recently invested in new plant and equipment which Crescent expects will deliver significant cost savings in 2008 and future years. Crescent plans to grow the business both organically and through the acquisition of attractive businesses in the same and/or similar market segments, to enhance earnings prior to an exit.
Billy Hyde Music Group (www.billyhydemusic.com.au) is the largest wholesaler and retailer of musical instruments (including orchestral) and accessories in Australia.
Billy Hyde's wholesale business represents a wide range of suppliers of musical instruments, often under exclusive arrangements and supplies both Billy Hyde and third party retail stores. Examples of the products represented include Pearl Drums, D'Addario instrument strings and Korg electrical instruments.
Billy Hyde's retail business is comprised of 26 stores nationally. Crescent Capital Partners III initial investment in the business was to fund the acquisition with further amounts due to be invested over time to fund an acceleration of the growth of Billy Hyde's retail and wholesale businesses.
Life Audiology
During April 2008 Crescent Capital Partners III participated in a capital raising by Crescent Capital Partners II investee company Life Audiology and vended in its interest in Abano Healthcare Group, in exchange for a significant minority share of Life Audiology.
Life Audiology is the leading independent hearing aid distribution company in Australia. The company acquires customers via outbound direct marketing to one of the more than 50 owned audiology clinics across Australia and New Zealand for testing and ultimate sale of hearing aids. The Acquisition of the Abano stake allows Life Audiology to position itself to influence the make-up of the audiology market in the Asia-Pacific region in the future.
Across both of their number II & III funds Crescent Capital Partners hold a majority of the shares in Life Audiology.
Metro Glass
In June 2008 Crescent Capital Partners III purchased mezzanine debt in NZ Glass Investment Company Limited (Metro Glass), the leading value added processer of glass in New Zealand.
Metro sells a full range of glass products including glazed windows, toughened glass and cut to size glass, to more than 300 customers including fabricators, glass merchants, contractors and bathroom suppliers. Metro purchases “raw glass” or float glass from overseas suppliers and produces a finished product through specialised value add processes conducted locally in New Zealand.
Metro, which holds an approximate 51% share of the New Zealand glass market, distributes through 21 decentralised sites and operates on a “just in time” basis, managing logistics in house, with a fleet of 50 trucks.