Carter Morse & Goodrich (“CMG”) is pleased to announce that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to H.J. Baker & Bro., LLC. (“H.J. Baker”) in its $100 million debt refinancing with BMO Harris Bank, a U.S. subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal (“BMO”). The multinational debt package, which will be syndicated, included an asset backed line of credit, an specialized equipment finance term loan as well as a cash flow based term loan.
Founded in 1850, H.J. Baker is a fifth-generation family-owned company headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut and is a world leader in sulphur and animal nutrition industries. Earlier in the year, members of the CMG team advised H.J. Baker on its acquisition of ICEC, a major international marketing and distribution house with offices and staff around the world. Formerly named Oxbow Sulphur, ICEC, a H.J. Baker Company, is the world’s largest independent marketer and distributor of sulphur and sulphur-based products. The Company owns and operates a wide array of assets and provides a variety of services to oil refineries and gas producers, as well as customers producing fertilizer, mining precious metals and manufacturing diverse chemical products.
Terence Hannafin, Managing Director at CMG, commented “We have enjoyed a long relationship with the Smith family, and are thrilled to be able to advise them on another successful transaction.”
Christopher Smith, President and CEO of H.J. Baker, continued “We could not have done this without the CMG team. They already knew our business well and helped us find and close this perfect debt solution incredibly quickly. We now have the financial structure and flexibility to operate and grow our business for years to come.”
BMO has already become a true partner to H.J. Baker given their deep institutional commitment to the Agribusiness industry and proven flexibility and creative problem solving financing solutions. Led by its Food, Consumer and Agribusiness Specialty Group, BMO was able to analyze, underwrite and close this major international financing in a matter of a few weeks.
Ramsey Goodrich, Managing Partner at CMG, remarked “This transaction is another example of CMG’s commitment to creating custom tailored financial solutions for family-held and founder-led businesses. It is truly remarkable that the BMO and H.J. Baker teams, along with their financial and legal advisors, were able to structure, underwrite, perform due diligence and close this multinational package so quickly, and implement the ideal solution for the company.”
In addition to CMG, other advisors for this transaction include Dorsey & Whitney LLP who was the legal advisor to H.J. Baker and Chapman and Cutler LLP, who served as BMO’s legal advisor. CBIZ performed the field and collateral audits for BMO.
About Carter Morse & Goodrich:
Located in Southport, Connecticut, Carter Morse & Goodrich is a boutique M&A advisory firm that represents closely-held and family businesses valued between $20 million and $200 million. CMG specializes in helping owners of leading companies in unique and niche markets plan, prepare, execute and close successful transactions that maximize shareholder value. We fully understand and appreciate the special dynamics of closely-held and family businesses and the importance of their legacies.
While CMG provides a full range of investment banking services, our primary focus is representing sellers who are pursuing their once-in-a-lifetime M&A transactions. For more than 30 years, the combination of our hands-on approach, senior banker attention, strategic guidance, seamless transaction execution and extensive network of domestic and international resources has enabled us to become a trusted advisor to hundreds of business owners.
We invite you talk with us and learn how we can help you. For more information, please visit us online at: www.cartermorse.com
CMG’s Broker/Dealer affiliate, Carter Capital Corporation, is a FINRA member firm registered with the SEC and SIPC.