Livingstone makes the right call for L Catterton

Livingstone Partners’ Debt Advisory team is pleased to announce the successful refinancing of Penumbra Brands, a portfolio company of L Catterton. BBVA Compass Bank provided the financing, which allows Penumbra to continue to evolve its product offering and broaden distribution reach.

“Livingstone ran a highly efficient and organized process. The team laid out a clear strategy, which allowed us to focus on running our business while Livingstone cleared the market for the best pricing and structure. We are extremely happy with the outcome,” commented Gentry Jenson, CEO of Penumbra Brands.

A leader in the smartphone accessories market, Penumbra Brands provides high-quality tempered glass and polyurethane screen protectors alongside additional products to a wide variety of smartphone models. In addition, the Company owns a proprietary intellectual property portfolio of smartphone radiation protection and signal enhancement technology. Due to its best-in-class product portfolio, value-added services, and key relationships, Penumbra’s products are available at approximately 8,500 retail locations.

“Livingstone’s knowledge and reach within the debt markets allowed them to find the right financial partner for us on terms that support Penumbra’s growth plans,” remarked Alice Lee, Vice President at L Catterton.

With over $15 billion of equity capital across six fund strategies in 17 offices globally, L Catterton is the largest consumer-focused private equity firm in the world. L Catterton’s team of more than 150 investment and operating professionals partners with management teams around the world to implement strategic plans to foster growth, leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad thought partnership network. Since 1989 the firm has made over 200 investments in leading consumer brands. In addition to Penumbra, L Catterton has invested in several consumer electronics companies including Case Logic, SteelSeries, and Cellularline.

“Given the amount of refinancing activity in the cell phone accessories sector, we had to ensure we positioned both Penumbra and L Catterton, and differentiated them from their competitors,” stated Tom Lesch, Partner at Livingstone. “Gentry’s leadership at Penumbra, coupled with L Catterton’s support, allowed us to refinance Penumbra’s debt at a low rate with favorable amortization.”

Penumbra represents another successful debt raise for Livingstone’s growing list of private equity sponsors, which now includes Huron Capital, RFE Investment Partners, Saybrook Opportunity Funds, Calvert Street Capital Partners, Brockway Moran, Rotunda Capital, Sun Capital, Medley Capital, and Monomoy Capital. The Penumbra transaction further reinforces Livingstone as the advisor of choice for financial sponsors seeking access to the debt capital markets for the best pricing and terms for complex situations.