Colt Capital Adds Adler as Partner –

Colt Capital Group, a Connecticut-based private equity firm, added Marilyn Adler as a partner last month. Adler is the second addition to the firm’s group of partners this year, following Kerri Cagnassola‘s hire from Whitney & Co. in March. The firm also wrapped up a $35 million buyout just before the quarter-end.

Adler joins Colt Capital from Hudson Venture Partners, a firm she helped found in 1997. Marshall Kiev, a founding partner of Colt Capital, approached Adler when he and Daniel Levinson began developing their firm in 1998. At that time, she decided that because the Small Business Administration (SBA) licensing process would likely take a while, she would wait until the firm received its Small Business Investment Corp. (SBIC) license before making a career change.

Levinson and Kiev managed to secure an SBIC license in only four months, and Adler took this as a good sign. “The SBA must have been impressed with Marshall and Dan’s plan to get a license in four months,” she said.

Her own firm, Hudson Venture, took six months to get its license in 1997.

In her new capacity, Adler’s responsibilities will run the gamut, including deal sourcing, conducting due diligence, financial structuring and valuation analysis.

In other partner news, Amy Weisman, who partnered with Kiev and Levinson in the firm’s infancy, left the firm in May to start a ALW Strategic Resources, a marketing firm focused on buyout shops.

No Big Deal

The firm, which seeks to invest $2 million to $5 million in equity per deal, implements a unique business plan that utilizes its investors, approximately 75 chief executives, to source deals and to provide additional equity for deals. While many firms are noticing a lull in their deal pipeline, Colt Capital completed the acquisition of Dest Manufacturing last quarter and has approximately 10 deals in its pipeline.

“It’s under the radar screen of a lot of the other private equity firms,” said Adler.

Colt Capital and management bought the tablecloth and linen manufacturer in a deal valued at $35 million. The firm and management invested $2 million in equity in the deal. A seller note and a $35 million revolving bank facility from PNC Equity made up the balance of the purchase price.

The firm is also expecting to wrap up its fund near the end of July with $20 million to $25 million of private capital, which would result in a $60 million to $75 million fund with the 2-to-1 leverage guaranteed by the SBA.