Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – F.N.B. Capital Partners, L.P. (“FNBCP”) announced today that it partnered with Weinberg Capital Group (“WCG”) in the recapitalization of Elyria, Ohio-based HoodMart, Inc. (“HoodMart” or the “Company”). The recapitalization was led by WCG while FNBCP provided $10 million of mezzanine and equity financing. HoodMart founder and Chairman, Daniel B. Reaser, Sr., will remain a shareholder and will serve on the Board of Directors.
“We are very excited to partner with WCG, Mr. Reaser and the talented management team, and it’s a pleasure to finance another business in the Cleveland, OH market,” noted Stephen Gurgovits, Jr., Managing Partner of FNBCP. “The Company has a strong track record of quality products and growth and we look forward to adding-value to the Company and the management going forward.” added Mr. Gurgovits, Jr. “We are impressed by the Company’s strong customer service history, growth trajectory and our great partners involved with the opportunity,” noted FNBCP Partner Matthew Harnett.
Founded in 2000, HoodMart specializes in the design, manufacture and sale of ventilation systems for the large and growing commercial cooking industry. Hoodmart is the pioneer in the direct-to-end-user business model for commercial cooking exhaust hoods and supporting products. Through its www.hoodmart.com website, the Company’s products are sold directly to the end-user. HoodMart’s primary customers include individual restaurateurs, small restaurant groups, HVAC installers and smaller commercial kitchens such as those found in convenient stores, food trucks and office cafeterias. As a factory direct seller, the Company is able to offer competitive prices while also maintaining high quality standards, rapid lead times and customized solutions. As a result, HoodMart has grown to become the market leader for factory direct sales of commercial exhaust hoods.
HoodMart will remain headquartered in Elyria, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Billow Butler & Company, LLC served as the investment bank for the transaction and senior financing was provided by First National Bank. Cohen & Grigsby served as FNBCP’s legal representation and accounting diligence was provided by HW&Co. Additional information on WCG can be found at www.weinbergcap.com.
About F.N.B. Capital Partners, L.P.
F.N.B. Capital Partners, L.P. is a pooled $175,000,000 investment fund of committed capital licensed by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) as an SBIC. FNBCP, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, invests $3 million to $15 million per transaction. FNBCP specializes in providing mezzanine debt, subordinated notes, private equity and other types of financial capital to small and medium size commercial enterprises for the purposes of recapitalizations, buyouts, generational transitions, mergers and acquisitions and other growth capital.