CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 7, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Charlotte-based Mosaic Capital Partners, LLC is pleased to announce that it closed its first investment after structuring and funding the leveraged employee stock ownership plan ("ESOP") buyout of Lees Specialty Compounding, LLC ("LSC" or "The Company"). The transaction resulted in the acquisition of The Apothecary Shoppe and affiliates, through which the ESOP will own 100% of The Company.
"While our team has worked together on several projects prior to this investment, we could not be more pleased with the result of our first transaction for everyone involved," said Bill Hayes, one of the managing partners for Mosaic. "We leveraged our unique deal sourcing capabilities with our merchant banking affiliate, Butcher Joseph Hayes, to provide an ESOP buyout solution for a truly proprietary-sourced deal."
Hayes went on to say that, "This transaction is an excellent example of our strategy to provide a range of options to execute change of control transactions for business owners. While ESOPs are not appropriate for all situations, working with an investor like Mosaic that knows how to properly structure them makes an ESOP a great solution for a company like The Apothecary Shoppe."
Mosaic's partners have extensive knowledge of ESOPs and other change of control transactions from their long years of experience. This investment combined with LSC's strong management team is a win-win situation for the founders, employees, customers and suppliers of Oklahoma's first "compounding-only" pharmacy.
The Apothecary Shoppe's founder Dr. Deril J. Lees, Sr. explained, "Mosaic's strategy allowed our family to obtain the economic value we wanted while preserving a legacy for our employees. We are very proud of our history here in the Tulsa community, and we've always worked to keep our focus on serving our customers. It's quite meaningful that we can continue that mission."
Current CEO, Dr. Deril J. Lees, Jr., was pleased to be involved in such a seamless transaction. "The combined expertise of the Mosaic team allowed all of us responsible for the business on a day-to-day basis to stay focused on what we do best while they worked diligently behind the scenes to bring the right resources to the table," said Lees, Jr.
ABOUT MOSAIC CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC
Based in Charlotte, NC, Mosaic Capital Partners, LLC ("Mosaic") is a private investment firm providing mezzanine debt and equity to privately held lower middle market companies exceeding $10 million in revenues. Mosaic employs traditional private equity buyout strategies along with the partners' unique expertise in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) to help business owners achieve their liquidity, wealth transfer and ownership transition goals. Mosaic's strategy is to partner with quality management teams at sound companies in stable industries to help drive value growth.
ABOUT LEES SPECIALTY COMPOUNDING, LLC AND THE APOTHECARY SHOPPE
Lees Specialty Compounding, LLC ("LSC" or "The Company") and The Apothecary Shoppe is a multi-location, traditional compounding pharmacy serving the greater Tulsa, Oklahoma market. The Company provides pharmaceutical products to patients whose physicians prescribe medications specifically formulated to meet the unique needs of each patient. The Company is headquartered in Tulsa, OK and was founded in 1995 as Oklahoma's first compounding-only pharmacy.
ABOUT BUTCHER JOSEPH HAYES, LLC
Butcher Joseph Hayes is an investment bank headquartered in St Louis, MO with coverage in Chicago, Washington DC, and Charlotte, NC. BJH provides investment banking advisory services to lower middle market companies. With almost $2 billion in successfully completed ESOP structured transactions, BJH is known as a leader in the ESOP field.