Houlihan Lokey Advises Asset Marketing Services

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce the successful placement of a senior secured credit facility for Asset Marketing Services, LLC (AMS), a portfolio company of Stone Arch Capital, LLC (Stone Arch) and The Grange, LLC (collectively, the Sponsors). The financing comprised a revolving credit facility and a term loan. Proceeds from the transaction were used to provide a meaningful shareholder distribution, refinance the company's existing indebtedness, prefund the acquisition of a new headquarter building, and fund transaction-related fees and expenses. The transaction closed on October 4, 2021.

Founded in 1984 and based in Burnsville, Minnesota, AMS is the leading direct sales and marketing business focusing on high-end collectible coins and bullion products. AMS employs a highly effective direct marketing strategy that accesses customers via e-commerce, TV and radio, newsletters, outbound sales, and print and catalog, among other marketing channels. The company enjoys longstanding partnerships and long-tenured relationships with all major world mints and offers customers a robust and diverse product portfolio, with the majority of its U.S. products sourced on an exclusive or semi-exclusive basis.

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Stone Arch is a middle-market private equity firm focusing primarily on businesses headquartered in the Midwest, with leading market positions, high barriers to entry, high profit margins, and strong free cash flow. Stone Arch’s principals have 100+ years of collective relevant investment experience.

The Grange, LLC, is an investment vehicle for a group of investors led by Jim Hays, an entrepreneur who founded and sold Hays Companies, a leading national insurance agency based in Minneapolis.

In light of the significant continued success and growth of AMS under the Sponsors’ ownership, the Sponsors sought to fund a one-time dividend to existing shareholders. Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group (CMG) was engaged as exclusive placement agent to assist the company in arranging, structuring, and negotiating the financing. CMG was able to quickly get up to speed on the business and provide immediate value to the client by executing a well-run marketing process, securing an attractive financing package, and actively facilitating the negotiation and documentation of the financing.

CMG secured debt commitments in approximately four weeks after contacting lenders, and the Sponsors' and AMS’s primary objectives were met, including: (i) delivering a meaningful shareholder return; (ii) expanding the company’s revolving credit capacity to better support growth in the Asian business, and (iii) securing a highly flexible covenant package.