Turnaround Shop Nears Close Of First Fund

BlackEagle Partners, the turnaround firm founded by former Questor Management principals, expects to have a third and final close on its first fund in June, a source familiar with the fundraising effort told Buyouts. The target is $250 million.

The Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based shop held an initial close of around $130 million in June and a second close of $200 million in the first week of March.

In April 2005, three former Questor Management pros—Michael Madden, Garrett Kanehann and Jason Runco—founded the firm, originally known as Centurion Capital Partners. They were joined by Henry Watson, who founded the Caledonia Group, an advisory shop for the automotive and niche manufacturing industries.

The firm began fundraising in earnest in the second half of 2006. It originally planned on raising $300 million to $400 million, as previously reported in Buyouts. Probitas Partners, the San Francisco-based placement agent, is helping the firm raise the money. BlackEagle officials declined to comment.

So far the firm has completed two deals. In November 2006, it acquired Federal Broach & Machine Co., a Harrison, Mich.-based auto parts supplier. At the time, the firm did not yet have a fund, so it financed the deal with equity and mezzanine support from Apollo Management. In November, it acquired Rockford Products, a Rockford, Ill.-based manufacturer of chassis and suspension components.

The firm seeks to invest between $5 million and $40 million in companies with enterprise values between $50 million and $200 million and minimum revenues of $50 million. It looks to make control investments in under-performing or troubled businesses, such as non-core subsidiaries of large companies, companies having trouble paying off debt, and bankrupt companies.–B.V.