Equipment rental company Neff Corp., Miami, Fla., announced yesterday that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by a company controlled by affiliates of Lightyear Capital LLC that are pursuing a merger. Neff will be the surviving company in the merger, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2007.
Lightyear has obtained equity and debt financing commitments for the transaction, and the proceeds will be used to pay the aggregate merger consideration to Neff's stockholders and option holders, repay existing indebtedness of Neff and all of its subsidiaries, and pay Lightyear's expenses related to the transaction. These equity and debt financing commitments are subject to customary conditions.
Since 2005, Neff has been majority-owned by Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC. Juan Carlos Mas, chief executive officer of Neff, said: “Odyssey has been an outstanding partner, and we thank the principals for their support in recent years. We look forward to working with Lightyear to continue growing our business.”
CIBC World Markets and Credit Suisse are acting as financial advisors to Neff in this transaction.