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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 20, 2007 Stirling
Square Capital Partners and Affiliates of Diamond Castle Holdings,
LLC Acquire Public Safety Equipment London, 20 February 2007 - Stirling Square Capital Partners ("SSCP"), Diamond Castle Holdings ("DCH") and Seton House Acquisition Ltd ("Seton House") are pleased to announce that they have signed a definitive agreement regarding the sale by Seton House of the international highway safety solutions business Public Safety Equipment ("PSE") to funds managed by SSCP and DCH. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. PSE designs, assembles and markets a broad range of branded electronic systems and solutions to support police forces and other emergency services, including traffic enforcement, in-car video, speed measurement and emergency lighting products. The company employs nearly 800 people and operates from four principal locations in the US and the UK, with additional sales and marketing operations in Europe and Australasia. PSE's U.S. based subsidiaries include Code 3, Inc., Kustom Signals, Inc., and Lasercraft, Inc. For more information on PSE, please visit their website at www.pse-intl.com. The management team of PSE, led by David Smith, is fully committed to the future of the company, and will invest alongside the equity sponsors to align their interests with those of the company and its investors going forward. SSCP manages a $280 million fund whose cornerstone investor is Citigroup. SSCP and the fund it advises seek to invest in European transactions with enterprise value of between €50-500 million from a wide spectrum of industries. Investment focus is on companies which exhibit proven business models, market leadership, cross-border development potential, and talented management teams capable of executing clearly defined value-creation strategies. DCH is a New York-based private equity investment firm that invests across a wide range of industries, with particular focus on the energy and power, financial services, media and communications, and healthcare sectors. DCH has $1.85 billion of committed capital under management. Seton House (formerly Britax Group) and its shareholders were advised by Lazard & Co., Limited and Macfarlanes. SSCP was advised by Dechert. DCH was advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Completion of the transaction is expected in April 2007. Martin Calderbank, partner at SSCP, said: "This acquisition is in line with our stated objective to invest in companies with strong management and a proven record of success. We see great development potential for the company and look forward to working closely with the management team to take PSE into its next phase of growth." Daniel Clare, principal at DCH, said: "We are pleased to be partnering with PSE's management team and SSCP to continue to grow PSE into a market leader in its core segments." David Smith, Chief Executive of PSE, said: "The acquisition by SSCP and DCH marks the next step in PSE's development and is a strong affirmation of our ongoing growth prospects. We are looking forward to working closely with our new partners to deliver on our robust business pipeline in the future. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Seton House for its continued support over the past five years." Alan Bowkett, Chairman of Seton House, added: "PSE has been an excellent business for us and has developed strongly over the last few years. Proceeds from the disposal will be used to pay down existing debt and invest further in our rapidly growing aerospace business. We would like to thank the PSE management team for all their efforts and wish them continued success in the future." For further information please contact: Amy Rosenberg
of Financial Dynamics Ilias Catsaros
of Cubitt Consulting Andrew Honnor
of Tulchan Group |
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