Hunter drops defences, gives in to Metalmark

24 August 2007

Behrman Capital has sold military and security products maker Hunter Defence Technologies to a private equity (PE) group led by Metalmark Capital.

The deal, closed on 22 August, is valued at $335 million. While Metalmark, a New York buyout shop, is acquiring a controlling stake, it was not clear who the other investors were. Bear, Stearns & Co, and the Bank of America provided the financing.

Hunter Defence, which is based at Solon, Ohio, makes mobile housing products, environmental control and power equipment, as well as nuclear, biological and chemical protection systems, mainly to the military.

Behrman Capital, which has offices in New York and San Francisco, acquired Hunter Defence in late 2003 for $90 million. It invested $50 million for an 80 per cent convertible preferred stake. In March 2005, Hunter bought Base-X, which sells tents and shelters for medical, chemical and decontamination purposes, for $80 million. At the same time, it undertook a $110 million recapitalisation of Hunter.

Later that same year, Hunter bought specialty power generation equipment maker PowerSystems International, which also makes environmental controls, in a deal valued at roughly $40 million. This means Behrman has generated a return on its investment in Hunter of more than 2.5 times and an internal rate of return of 31 per cent.

Metalmark Capital is an independent private equity firm with a long track record of successful investing in a wide range of industries, especially healthcare, financial services, energy and natural resources.

The firm was founded to manage the Metalmark Capital private equity funds and the Morgan Stanley Capital Partners private equity funds, on a subadvisory basis.