Caliber Collision Centers Completes $40 Million Financing; Zurich Financial Services, Keystone Inc. and The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club Sponsor Growth.Business Editors & Automotive Writers IRVINE, Calif.--(AutomotiveWire)--Oct. 25, 2001 Caliber Collision Centers, an Irvine-based operator of high-quality collision repair centers in California and Texas, announced that Zurich Financial Services Zurich Financial Services Group is a major financial services group based in Zurich, Switzerland. Global operations North America The US consumer market is served primarily by Farmers Insurance Group the third largest personal lines property & casualty insurance Group, Keystone Inc., an affiliate of Oak Hill Capital Management Inc. and The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club have invested $40 million in Caliber's Series E Preferred Stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. . This investment will further Caliber's effort to provide high-quality, cost-effective collision repair services to its client base consisting of leading auto insurance companies and consumers. Caliber will continue to acquire and develop centers in its existing markets, while exploring expansion opportunities in other geographic regions. The $40 million investment follows a $20 million investment made by BNY BNY Bank of New York Capital Partners L.P. and The 1818 Mezzanine Fund A mezzanine fund is a type of private equity or merchant banking fund. A typical mezzanine investment consists of a debt or debt-like instrument, paired with an equity “sweetener. in August of 2000. "I am very pleased to have The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club join the other highly regarded firms investing in the success of Caliber Collision Centers," stated Matthew Ohrnstein, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and chairman of Caliber. "We have been extremely fortunate to have the ongoing financial support of our primary investors, Keystone Inc. and the Zurich Financial Services Group, while attracting the support of additional quality investors, such as The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club. "This investment affirms the continued commitment of our existing investors and the confidence that the insurance industry has in our ability to consistently provide service, quality and price that differentiates Caliber from the collision repair industry norm. This $40 million investment will enable our company to continue executing its business plan into the foreseeable future." Jim Gilmartin, senior vice president of The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club believes the investment in Caliber will provide policyholders with access to high-quality collision repair through Caliber's continued participation in the Exchange's Immediate Repair Program (IRP See Interest rate parity line. ). "The Interinsurance Exchange's IRP service option is made available to those policyholders and claimants who request a referral for vehicle repair," said Gilmartin. "While we will always support our customers' right to select a repair facility of their choice, we find that many of our policyholders and claimants request a referral for collision repair. Our IRP program provides a number of pre-screened, quality repair facility choices for our clients. Ensuring Caliber's continued participation in this service focused program will benefit our customers," Gilmartin added. "Caliber is the largest collision repair business in the US with 34 locations in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, and 28 in Texas," said William Lawrence William Lawrence is the name of several notable people:
"Our scale enables us to control our costs better than the average collision repair business. This purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. , coupled with our broad market coverage and intense focus on customer service, positions us to provide best-in-class quality, service and pricing to our clients, such as The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club." Brad Bernstein, a partner at Oak Hill Capital Management spoke on behalf of the investor group noting that the collision repair industry is experiencing a renaissance -- a shift to sophisticated, corporate-owned services providing collision repair and claims support over broad geographic markets. "We have observed Caliber's execution since early 1997 and have been impressed by the management team's blend of operating expertise in both the collision repair and insurance industries and with their ability to manage growth," said Bernstein. "We are excited to have The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club join the investors supporting Caliber's growth. The Exchange's investment clearly validates Caliber's business model and performance as one that creates value for Caliber's customers and insurance clients." The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club is a minority investor without any control, management or governance of Caliber's operations. The Exchange will not have a board seat, nor will it have access to any information other than that which is specifically related to the services Caliber Collision Centers provides to Interinsurance Exchange's customers. Caliber Collision Centers commenced its operations concurrently with the initial equity investment by Keystone (formerly The Robert M. Bass Group), an affiliate of Oak Hill Capital Management and Global Asset Holdings Limited (formerly Zurich Centre Investments Limited), a predecessor-in-interest, of ZCGHL Services Limited, a member of the Zurich Financial Services Group. Simultaneous with the close of that financing, Caliber acquired its first three collision repair centers in California. Caliber has acquired or developed 62 centers in California and Texas, and today has annual revenues exceeding $190 million. About The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club The Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club has provided automobile insurance to members of the Automobile Club of Southern California The Automobile Club of Southern California was founded December 13, 1900 in Los Angeles as one of the nation's first motor clubs dedicated to improving roads, proposing traffic laws and improvement of overall driving conditions. since 1912. Today the Exchange, which is an affiliate of the Auto Club, also provides homeowners and watercraft insurance to members of the Auto Club. The Exchange has an A+ rating from A.M. Best. About BNY Capital Partners L.P. BNY Capital Partners L.P. is the private equity and mezzanine investment affiliate of the Bank of New York The Bank of New York, abbrieviated to BNY, was a global financial services company that existed until its merger with the Mellon Financial Corporation on July 2, 2007.[1] The bank now continues under the new name of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. Co. Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BK), one of the largest bank holding companies in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . With more than $89 billion in total assets as of Sept. 30, 2001, the company provides a complete range of banking and other financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. to corporations and individuals worldwide through its basic businesses: Securities Servicing and Global Payment Services; Corporate Banking; BNY Asset Management and Private Client Services; Retail Banking; and Global Market Services. BNY Capital Partners supports superior management teams with junior capital to finance growth, acquisitions, shareholder liquidity and recapitalizations. Additional information is available at www.bankofny.com. About The 1818 Mezzanine Fund L.P. The 1818 Mezzanine Fund is an affiliate of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Founded in 1818, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is the oldest and largest privately held bank in America. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. provides a broad range of financial services including: commercial banking, currency consulting, securities brokerage and research, mergers & acquisitions, advisory services advisory services advisory services provided to the public, in their capacity as owners and managers of animals, are an important part of veterinary science. They may be provided by government bureaux, by commercial companies who deal in pharmaceuticals or animals or animal , private equity, foreign exchange, investment management and global custody. Through its 1818 Funds, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is a leading investor in negotiated, non-controlling equity and mezzanine investments in private and public companies with business values between $20 million and $1 billion. Additional information on Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is available at www.bbh.com. About Oak Hill Capital Management Oak Hill Capital Management is the management company for Oak Hill Capital Partners L.P., a private equity partnership founded by Robert M. Bass and his team of investment professionals. Oak Hill Capital makes significant investments through acquisitions, build-ups, recapitalizations, restructurings, strategic joint ventures and the purchase of minority stakes across a wide range of industries. Investments to date include: Formation of MeriStar Investment Partners L.P.; a significant minority stake in American Skiing Co.; a strategic investment in Cincinnati Bell Cincinnati Bell is the dominant telephone company for Cincinnati, Ohio and its nearby suburbs in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The parent company is named Cincinnati Bell Inc. Inc. (now Broadwing Inc.); the acquisition of Caribbean Restaurants Inc.; the pending acquisition of GATX GATX General American Transportation Corporation Logistics; and significant investments in newly formed Wide Open West Holdings L.L.C., Financial Engines Inc. and Align Technologies. About ZCGHL Services Limited and Zurich Insurance Co. ZCGHL Services Limited (ZSL ZSL Zoological Society of London (UK) ZSL Zero Slot LAN ZSL Zylog Systems Limited (Edison, New Jersey) ) and Zurich Insurance Co. (ZCI ZCI Zambia Copper Investments Ltd ZCI Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC (Seattle, WA) ZCI Zoom Camera in ) are members of the Zurich Financial Services Group. The Zurich Financial Services Group (www.zurich.com) is a global leader of integrated financial services, providing its customers with solutions in the area of financial protection (non-life insurance and structural solutions) and asset gathering (life insurance and asset management.) The ZFS (1) (Zettabyte File System) A distributed file system from Sun that was added to OpenSolaris in 2005 and Solaris 10 in 2006. With support for 128 bits, compared to 64 for NTFS and other contemporary file systems, storage capacity is unlimited for all practical Group focuses its activities on the key markets of North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Continental Europe and the United Kingdom. About Caliber Collision Centers Caliber Collision Centers owns and operates 62 high-quality collision repair facilities in California and Texas. Caliber plans to continue acquiring, developing and integrating high-volume collision repair centers while providing innovative collision repair solutions and automobile physical damage claims support. For more information on Caliber, visit www.calibercollision.com. |
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