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Durham, NC – April 2, 2008 – Bison Capital’s investment in Big Rock Sports, LLC was named Carolinas’ Deal of the Year by ACG Research Triangle. The award was presented on April 2, 2008 at the ACG Research Triangle Capital Connection event.
The Deal of the Year award honors both the company and the private equity group involved in a significant transaction in either North Carolina or South Carolina during 2007.
On October 12, 2007, Bison Capital Equity Partners II, L.P. sponsored a recapitalization of Big Rock, enabling the senior management team to acquire a majority interest in the company from Key Principal Partners and J.P. Morgan Partners.
Big Rock Sports is the largest distributor of fishing, shooting sports and camping equipment in the United States. The company supplies over 100,000 SKUs to nearly 15,000 independent specialty retailers as well as select category chain and mass retailers. Big Rock operates six facilities with locally recognized brands, including Henry’s, MT Sports, All Sports, AWR Sports, and CSI Sports.
Big Rock delivers a unique value proposition to the sporting goods supply chain by offering a host of services in addition to its core competency as a distributor. These include:
- The industry’s only direct sales force that provides Big Rock’s retail partners, typically one or two unit specialty retailers, with critical in-store support.
- Next-day and two-day delivery service on a national scale.
- Vendor marketing programs and industry-renowned trade shows that connect both a fragmented vendor and retailer landscape in the fishing and shooting sports markets.
Big Rock is headquartered in Newport, NC, with additional operations in Memphis, TN, Sauk Rapids, MN, Fresno, CA, Billings, MT, and Clackamas, OR.
Bison Capital makes growth equity investments
in middle-market companies, public or private, for expansion,
acquisitions or balance sheet restructuring. The firm’s
primary investment focus is partnering with entrepreneurs
and management teams seeking capital to grow their businesses.
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