Lazard Middle Market Secures $27
Million in Funding for GOLIATH Solutions from Cordjia and The Walnut
Group
TRANSACTION
DESCRIPTION
Lazard Middle Market assisted GOLIATH Solutions, LLC
with the private placement of $27 million financing led by two private
equity firms: Cordjia and The Walnut Group. GOLIATH is a privately-held
marketing intelligence company that has developed a proprietary and proven
solution to maximize retailer returns from in-store advertising and
merchandising.
With the
funding, GOLIATH will move to quickly fulfill its contract with Walgreens,
which is implementing the patented GOLIATH solution in 6,200 stores
nationwide, said Bob Michelson, CEO of GOLIATH Solutions. "We will also
accelerate the rollout of our solution to support retailers in the
grocery, office, specialty and mass channels."
The financing
included a $16 million Series E equity investment and $11 million in debt
commitments. Joining Cordjia and The Walnut Group in the investment were
other investors and a syndicate of financing providers including CapX
Partners, Trinity Capital Investments and Comerica Bank.
"We are
excited about the partnership with Cordjia and The Walnut Group, which
will help position the company for long-term success," Michelson said.
"This is more than just financing. Both of these organizations have deep
expertise and relationships in the retail industry and are committed to
directly helping GOLIATH execute its growth plans."
"The
company's ability to command this funding in today's tight credit market
is a testament to management and its unique application of RFID technology
to provide marketing data services to the retail channel," said Robin
Engelson, Managing Director and head of Lazard Middle Market's private
placement practice.
The GOLIATH
system has typically generated a positive return on investment (ROI)
within months of implementation, Michelson says. GOLIATH's solution
enables retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to measure
consumer response to in-store promotional displays, signs and
merchandising fixtures—a $17 billion industry—by integrating sales data
with in-store display execution and location information. The system is
being installed in thousands of retail stores, and more than 40 leading
CPG companies subscribe to GOLIATH data.
"We believe
GOLIATH's innovative solution is industry transforming," said Shane Flynn,
Managing Director at Cordjia. "The retail industry will soon depend upon
GOLIATH's unique marketing intelligence to plan and react to in-store
marketing activities, creating billions of dollars of improved industry
profits that were previously impossible to attain." "The opportunity to
partner with GOLIATH to build a world-class consumer marketing
intelligence company is very exciting to all of us at The Walnut Group,"
added James Gould, Managing General Partner. "The Walnut Group's core
criterion is to invest in companies with outstanding management teams, a
proven track record and a thorough understanding of the business—and that
is exactly what we are fortunate to have at GOLIATH."
ABOUT GOLIATH SOLUTIONS, LLC
GOLIATH Solutions, LLC (www.goliathsolutions.com) is a
marketing intelligence company that tracks consumer response to in-store
promotional displays, signs and merchandising fixtures by integrating
sales data with in-store display execution and location information.
Retailers and CPG companies invest $17 billion annually in in-store
advertising and merchandising, but until recently, they had very little
information about consumer response to the displays. By using patented
long-range RFID technology to track displays within a retail store and
combining that information with store sales data, GOLIATH Solutions has
been able to deliver the marketing intelligence retailers and CPG
companies need.
ABOUT
CORDJIA, LLC
Cordjia, LLC (www.cordjia.com) is a Delaware-based
private equity firm that delivers long-term financial gains for investors
by providing the capital, key managerial experience and deep operational
expertise needed to unlock the vast growth potential of middle market
partners and real estate ventures. Cordjia's principals have more than 80
years of combined experience and have worked together in various executive
management, senior operations and corporate real estate positions for more
than 15 years.
ABOUT THE
WALNUT GROUP
The Walnut Group (www.thewalnutgroup.com) is a
Cincinnati, Ohio-based private equity firm organized by life-long friends
Frederic H. Mayerson and James M. Gould whose diverse, yet complementary
entrepreneurial backgrounds span more than 25 years. They have been
investors as well as founders and operators of businesses. The Walnut
Group makes equity investments across a broad range of industry sectors
with a particular focus on retail, consumer products and services, and
business and financial services. Their investments have included
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Skylight Financial, and Cap
Toys.
ABOUT CAPX
PARTNERS
CapX Partners (www.capxpartners.com), founded in
1999, is an equipment financing and secured mezzanine fund focusing on
transaction sizes of $1-$7 million for private equity and venture backed
portfolio companies. CapX has $150 million of capital and favors
manufacturing, distribution, services, technology and healthcare service
industries with an emphasis on revenue producing fixed
assets.
ABOUT LAZARD MIDDLE MARKET
Lazard Middle Market
(www.lazardmm.com),
a subsidiary of Lazard (NYSE:LAZ), provides advice on mergers and
acquisitions, restructuring, and financings to the middle market. Formed
in 2007 with Lazard's acquisition of Goldsmith Agio Helms, Lazard
Middle Market has approximately 100 professionals in Minneapolis, New
York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Shanghai.
