CHICAGO and BETHESDA, Md. — Antares Capital and American Capital arranged for $170 million in financing to support the acquisition of Kele Inc. by Snow Phipps Group LLC. Kele is a distributor of peripheral control products used in building automation systems. Snow Phipps is a private equity firm focused on middle-market control investments.

Douglas Cannaliato, senior managing director at Antares Capital, said, "We’re thrilled to be lead arranger of this financing for Snow Phipps, continuing our decade-long relationship with Kele. We have a lot of confidence in management and a history of successful partnering with Snow Phipps.” Ryan Brauns, managing director and head of sponsor finance at American Capital, said, “We are delighted to have closed our second transaction with Snow Phipps in the last 12 months and were glad to partner with Antares to provide a joint execution.”

Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Kele supplies over 108,000 peripheral control products, including pressure controls, sensors, and control valves, that are critical components for the efficient operation of commercial and industrial buildings. These products are used to detect and transmit information such as room temperature and humidity to building controllers, allowing building operators to manage internal environments, save on energy costs, and keep HVAC systems running correctly.

Sean Epps, partner at Snow Phipps, said, “We appreciate the efforts of both the Antares and American Capital teams to support us in our acquisition of Kele. We have enjoyed a long-term relationship with Antares and are benefitting from a new relationship with American Capital and look forward to shared success and partnership with both in the future."

For more information about Snow Phipps, visit www.snowphipps.com.

For more information about Kele, visit www.kele.com.

Publication date: 11/19/2015

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