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Circle 8 Crane Services, LLC (“Circle 8”) and uSell.com, Inc. (“uSell”).
Trive partnered with Circle 8 in February 2017 through a structured capital investment at a time when traditional sources of financing were not otherwise available. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Houston, TX, Circle 8 provides operated and maintained crane lifting and pumping services to the oil and gas, commercial and industrial markets in the southern United States. Over the last ten years, the Company and its seasoned management team have successfully navigated a cyclical industry through end market diversification and by maintaining strong customer relationships built on service and quality with high fleet utilization.
During its partnership with Trive, Circle 8 created significant value through the company’s scalable operating model – growing share of wallet, expanding its MSA base and capturing business in new geographies and with new customers. In November 2018, Circle 8 completed a recapitalization in which Trive’s structured equity investment was successfully realized.
Earlier in 2017, Trive partnered with uSell through a multi-tranche investment in both debt and a newly formed special purpose vehicle. uSell acquires used smartphones, grades and repairs these phones, and then distributes them throughout the world using both its internal sales force and automated online platform. The company completed a refinancing in November 2018 whereby Trive’s investment was successfully realized.
Chris Zugaro, Partner at Trive, stated, “We are excited to announce two successful exits in transactions where we provided tailored capital solutions to meet the needs of our respective partners. The uSell and Circle 8 transactions further highlight Trive’s ability to collaborate with management teams and provide hands-on support, irrespective of capital structure.”
Shravan Thadani, Managing Director at Trive, added, “We have been fortunate to partner with talented management teams in both instances that resulted in successful and strategic transactions for all stakeholders. We will continue to seek out opportunities to invest in uniquely structured capital solutions, including both debt and equity securities, given our flexible mandate and situational approach to investing.”
Dallas, Texas, Houston, Texas, and New York, New York
About Trive
Trive Capital is a Dallas, Texas based private equity firm with more than $7 billion of regulatory assets under management. Trive focuses on investing equity and debt in what it sees as strategically viable middle-market companies with the potential for transformational upside through operational improvement. We seek to maximize returns through a hands-on partnership that calls for identifying and implementing value creation ideas.
The Trive team is comprised of seasoned investment professionals who have been involved in over 250 middle-market transactions representing in excess of $7 billion in revenue across Trive’s targeted industry sectors and situations.