NEW YORK, NY (November 28, 2005) – Lightyear Capital LLC (“Lightyear”), a private equity firm that focuses on financial services, today announced that on November 23, 2005, The Lightyear Fund, L.P. has completed its acquisition of Baker Tanks, Inc. (“Baker”), the leading liquid and solid containment equipment rental and leasing services company. Lightyear previously announced a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Baker on October 17, 2005. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“We think Baker is uniquely poised to take advantage of the highly-fragmented and fast- growing liquid and solid containment equipment rental and leasing industry” said Donald B. Marron, chairman and chief executive officer of Lightyear. “The Company’s growing product suite and close relationships with major corporations eager to consolidate their purchasing using fewer vendors provide Baker, in our opinion, with a distinct edge over the competition.”
Mr. Marron concluded, “We are confident in Baker’s seasoned management team and look forward to supporting them as we partner in leading Baker through its next phase of growth.”
Commenting on the closing, Bryan Livingston, chief executive officer of Baker, said, “Working with Lightyear is a great opportunity for our company. We feel Lightyear’s financial services expertise and value-added approach will immediately assist us with our growth plans both organically and through future acquisitions.”
Lightyear spearheaded an investment team comprised of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a leading institutional investor in Canada, Goldman Sachs Mezzanine Partners III and Baker’s existing management team.
ABOUT LIGHTYEAR CAPITAL
Lightyear is a private equity investment firm providing buyout and growth capital to companies in the financial services industry. Based in New York, Lightyear, through its affiliated funds, has managed approximately $3 billion of committed capital with investments across the financial services spectrum, including asset management, banking, brokerage, financial technology, insurance, leasing and related business services, and other sectors within financial services. Lightyear brings unique strengths and discipline to its investment process, as well as operating, transaction, and strategic management experience, along with significant contacts and resources beyond capital. The senior team of professionals has an average of 20 years of financial services-related experience and includes David Glenn, Stewart Gross, Donald Marron, Richard Sterne, and Mark Vassallo.
For more information, please visit
www.lycap.com.
ABOUT BAKER TANKS
Baker, an industry pioneer founded over 60 years ago, has emerged as the market leader in the liquid and solid containment equipment rental and leasing industry. Baker has enjoyed 12 consecutive years of revenue growth and is well positioned to expand its market share within the highly fragmented and fast-growing $2 billion liquid and solid containment market. Baker maintains a diverse fleet of over 15,300 units and provides liquid and solid containment rental and leasing solutions through its national network of 74 locations to a diverse customer base operating across numerous industries including industrial and environmental services, environmental remediation, oil and gas, construction, refinery, chemical, transportation, and power.
For more information, please visit
www.bakertanks.com.
ABOUT THE CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a financial institution that manages funds primarily for public and private pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2004, it held CA$102.4 billion of net assets. The Caisse invests in the main financial markets as well as in private equity and real estate. The institution partners with dynamic companies in various sectors, offering them a full range of debt and equity financing products. As at December 31, 2004, the private equity portfolios held more than 600 investments in funds and companies, for CA$10.2 billion of net assets.
For more information, please visit
www.lacaisse.com.
