Industry: Industrials / Manufacturing
Transaction: Buy-Side Advisory


Zeledyne, LLC ("Zeledyne") is a leading provider of automotive and architectural glass. The company primarily supplies original equipment ("OE") glass to Ford Motor Company for use in its vehicles and supplies aftermarket replacement glass under the brand name Carlite. Zeledyne also supplies architectural glass under the trade name Versalux, which is used in a variety of applications including skyscrapers, windows, entryways and curtain walls.

GMB was retained by Robert Price, a Tulsa-based private investor, who formed Zeledyne specifically to acquire the glass division of Automotive Components Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Detroit-based Ford Motor Company and part of Ford's strategy to divest non-core operations.

Zeledyne plans to diversify its business segments through the manufacture of non-Ford OE automotive glass and capitalize on the demand from developing economies for architectural glass. Zeledyne will also continue the proud Carlite tradition of being the most recognized brand in automotive glass and continue to supply quality automotive glass to Ford for both existing and future platforms. The company has committed to investing in modern, state-of-the-art equipment and technology at its float facilities in Tulsa, OK and Nashville, TN, allowing it to possess the most automated, efficient operations in the automotive glass industry.

GMB assisted Zeledyne in constructing complex financial models that were necessary for securing financing for the transaction. GMB also drafted a confidential memorandum which was shared with a consortium of banks, mezzanine funds, hedge funds, sponsored equity providers and bridge lenders. GMB successfully managed these relationships and assisted management with lender presentations in addition to modeling and analyzing a multitude of capital structures through the documentation and closing of the transaction.

In addition to managing the transaction process and structuring the financing, GMB arranged committed debt financing of $115 million at closing, as follows:

• A committed revolving credit facility of $80 million from Bank of America and Wachovia Corporation
• Equipment financing by IBC Bank of $20 million
• A mortgage loan by Bank of Oklahoma in the amount of $15 million

Go Back