BGL Completes Financing for Weinberg & Bell Group’s Investment in Cargo Airport Services, LLC
Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) today announced the successful completion of the private debt and equity capital raise for the leveraged recapitalization of Cargo Airport Services, LLC (CAS). BGL was hired by The Weinberg & Bell Group (WBG) to raise debt financing and identify an equity co-investor for its first portfolio company investment.
CAS is a highly profitable, full service cargo handling, logistics and traffic management company serving major international airfreight transporters. The leveraged recapitalization provides capital from WBG and MidMark Capital Partners. The capital will enable CAS to increase its service offerings and add locations to meet the needs of the growing international cargo market.
The owners of the business, Carl Smitelli and Simon Caviezel, will remain active at CAS as co-presidents, members of the board of directors, and shareholders.
Daniel M. Bell, managing partner of WBG said, “We are extremely excited about the long-term prospects of CAS. As the first formal investment of our fund, it was important for us to bring together a collection of established partners to help WBG profitably build upon CAS’ dominant business platform. We look forward to many years of strong growth and excellent returns to all stakeholders.”
Referring to his advisory team, Bell added, “WBG was pleased with the financial terms obtained by BGL’s efforts, in what was a complex transaction involving multiple parties and the acquisition of a competitor during the investment process.”
Commenting on the transaction, Nir Gabriely, director at BGL said, “We received strong indications of interest from many quality parties and are very pleased with the results of our private placement efforts. CAS represents an attractive investment opportunity in the logistics and transportation markets. We wish Mr. Bell, his partners, the founders and MidMark Capital good luck and look forward to monitoring the long-term growth of the business.”
About The Weinberg & Bell Group
Weinberg & Bell is a Cleveland-based buyout group, founded in 2003 by Daniel Bell and Ronald Weinberg, Jr. It is an outgrowth of Weinberg Capital, started by Ronald E. Weinberg, the Chairman of Hawk Corporation, who remains an investor in Weinberg & Bell. WBG is comprised of principals with hands on experience managing and building companies to maximize growth and increase shareholder value. Through its principals, WBG has a long and successful record of acquiring, operating and exiting businesses. For more information, please visit www.weinbergbell.com.
About Cargo Airport Services
Cargo Airport Services is a full service cargo handling company serving international air freight carriers out of two of the U.S.’ largest international airports, John F. Kennedy International Airport in Jamaica, NY and George W. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, TX. CAS’ one stop service offering includes loading and unloading freight, pallet breakdown and buildup, custom processing and documentation, package screening and storage and brokering third party cargo logistics.