Lovell Minnick makes 4.4x its investment with Commercial Credit sale

Lovell Minnick Partners has more than quadrupled its money with the sale of Commercial Credit Inc.

BDT Capital Partners’ buy of Commercial Credit closed Feb. 28. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The transaction is expected to generate a gross return of 4.4x invested capital for Lovell Minnick investors, a tombstone obtained by Buyouts said.

Founded in 2004, Commercial Credit, Charlotte, North Carolina, provides equipment and accounts receivable financing to companies in the construction, manufacturing, transportation and waste industries.

Commercial Credit finances, among other things, mobile cranes, over-the-road trucks and trailers, waste-collection trucks as well as earth-moving and paving equipment.

Lovell Minnick acquired a majority of Commercial Credit in May 2012 from Falfurrias Capital Partners. The investment came from Lovell’s third flagship, which closed on $456 million in 2010.

Nearly three years later, in March 2015, Commercial Credit filed to go public. It withdrew the offering later that year but did not give a reason. Lovell Minnick at the time owned about 75 percent of the company, according to SEC filings.

The Radnor, Pennsylvania, buyout shop is fundraising for its fifth fund, Buyouts reported in November. Lovell Minnick Fund V is seeking $1 billion, Buyouts said.

BDT Capital is the Brussels merchant bank founded by Brian Trott in 2009. Trott, the longtime adviser to Warren Buffett, is a former Goldman Sachs banker.

BDT caters to the wealthy and recently advised Keurig Green Mountain on its $18.7 billion buy of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Business Insider said. BDT manages more than $9 billion across its investment funds and another $4.6 billion in co-investments.

Executives for Commercial Credit declined comment. BDT and Lovell Minnick could not be reached for comment.

Action Item: For more on Commercial Credit: www.commercialcreditgroup.com/