May 8, 2024   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Barings Announces Investment in USA Industries

Barings, one of the world’s leading investment managers, today announced it has provided mezzanine debt to support Sky Island Capital’s investment in USA Industries, LLC. Headquartered in Houston, TX, USA Industries is a manufacturer, supplier, and rental provider of pipe isolation and testing products, tube plugs, flow measurement orifice plates, and heat exchanger tools to petrochemical, chemical, and other industrial facilities.

“Barings is pleased to partner with Sky Island Capital and their portfolio company USA Industries,” said Scott Chappell, Managing Director in Barings’ Global Private Finance Group. “USA Industries is differentiated by its mission-critical product offerings and long-term track record within the markets they serve.”

“We are grateful to have secured financing from Barings and Concentric Investment Partners to support USA Industries’ future growth initiatives. We believe the Company is exceptionally well-positioned to continue expanding its product and solutions offering to best serve its customer base,” said Jack Waterstreet, Managing Partner of Sky Island Capital.

This transaction expands Barings’ $32.78 billion* Global Private Finance platform, which leverages a deep bench of more than 80 investment professionals ​and a 30-year track record of providing financing solutions to sponsors while generating attractive ​risk-adjusted returns for investors.

About Barings

Barings is a $406+ billion* global asset management firm that partners with institutional, insurance, and intermediary clients, and supports leading businesses with flexible financing solutions. The firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, seeks to deliver excess returns by leveraging its global scale and capabilities across public and private markets in fixed income, real assets and capital solutions.

*Assets under management as of March 31, 2024

About USA Industries

USA Industries is a manufacturer of innovative piping maintenance products, serving blue-chip refining, petrochemical, chemical, industrial, OEM, and engineering, procurement, and construction customers. The Company is headquartered in South Houston, Texas and maintains a diverse customer base throughout North America and internationally. GripSafe® is a patented, high pressure isolation and testing plug that utilizes Gritlock™ Wedge Surface Coating and high performance Tri-Ply™ Seals to instantly secure the product and provide superior self-gripping performance without damaging the surface of the pipe. Snap It® Mechanical Tube Plugs are cost-effective and reliable tube plugs that can be installed without welding and in 80% less time, avoid tube sheet damage completely, and are rated at 1,000 pounds per square inch differential (psid). For further information visit www.usaindustries.com.

About Sky Island Capital

Sky Island Capital is a lower middle market private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas that makes control investments in strategically viable North American manufacturing companies that exhibit transformational upside potential. Sky Island focuses on situations where it can draw upon its deep operational experience to support senior management in driving significant value creation through operational and strategic partnership, including add-on acquisitions. Sky Island is comfortable with and has a history of executing transactions with complex dynamics, including family-owned businesses, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs, public to privates, lender-controlled businesses, and other special situations. For more information, please visit www.skyislandcap.com.