Capital One announced today that it served as administrative agent for a senior secured credit facility to finance Cove Hill Partners’ acquisition of LiveAuctioneers. The transaction consists of a five-year revolver and a six-year term loan held by Capital One and funds managed by BlackRock, a global asset management company. The sponsor, Cove Hill Partners, manages a long-duration fund with more than $1 billion in commitments from its investors and founders and is focused on the technology and consumer sectors.
“The Capital One team and the BlackRock private credit team customized a deal structure that will support the company’s strategic initiatives going forward,” said Zack Kaplan, Managing Director and Co-Lead of Cove Hill’s Consumer Team. “We were very impressed by the expertise both institutions brought to the table.”
Founded in 2002, LiveAuctioneers is a two-sided online marketplace that allows buyers to search for and remotely participate in auctions held by over 1,200 auction houses in the United States and around the world. In 2018, the company facilitated over $200 million in transaction value.
“We’re excited to be working with the company and Cove Hill Partners,” said Michael Rhea, Managing Director for Capital One’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) team. “LiveAuctioneers is a leader in its market, and partnering with Cove Hill Partners will provide greater resources to help drive continued growth.”
Capital One’s TMT business provides financing for corporate growth, mergers and acquisitions, balance sheet refinancings and recapitalizations to companies across TMT sectors. These sectors include application and infrastructure software; financial technology; cable, radio and television broadcasting; business information services and data analytics; educational media and services; entertainment media; and communications infrastructure. The TMT business also provides a full range of other services including loan syndication, treasury management, capital market products, and institutional asset management.
The TMT team, which works with businesses throughout the country, consists of seasoned relationship managers, industry experts, and a dedicated and centralized underwriting team to ensure speed and certainty of execution.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., had $255.1 billion in deposits and $373.2 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2019. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has branches located primarily in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF” and is included in the S&P 100 index.
