Corinthian Preps Fund II, Needs Placement Agent

Firm executives expect to start the process early next year and are talking with placement agents to help it raise the capital, a source told Buyouts. The firm will likely seek somewhere between $400 million and $500 million, though the target is not finalized.

Corinthian Capital targets North American companies in the manufacturing, distribution, service and consumer products sectors that generate annual EBITDA of $5 million to $30 million and sales of $50 million to $250 million. Its portfolio includes Alumacraft Boat Co., a St. Peter, Minn.-based manufacturer of aluminum fishing boats; Beta International, a Houston-based supplier of valve components to the energy and infrastructure markets; and Valley Tool & Manufacturing, an Orange, Conn.-based manufacturer of products for the aerospace and defense industry.

The New York-based firm, which also has offices in Chicago and Hingham, Mass., raised $314 million for its first fund, which closed in 2007. The firm recently sold Sabre Industries, a maker of wireless cell towers, to Kohlberg & Co., for its first full exit, and it has two partial exits via dividend recapitalizations, the source said.

A group of former Lincolnshire Management executives formed Corinthian Capital in 2005. The firm is led by Chairman and CEO Steven Kumble, a former corporate lawyer who also helped establish Lincolnshire Management in 1986, and three senior managing directors, who were previously managing directors with Lincolnshire: Kenneth Clay, James McNair and Peter Van Raalte.