Kidd & Company, LLC Recapitalizes Colerain RV In Partnership With Management; Acquires Northside RV’s

OLD GREENWICH, CT, January 29, 2016 – Kidd & Company, LLC ("KCO"), a leading family office investment firm focused on the middle market, announced it has recapitalized Colerain RV (“Colerain” or the “Company”), a specialty retailer of recreational vehicles (“RVs”) with four dealership and service locations in Ohio and Indiana.  Concurrently, the Company acquired Northside RV’s (“Northside”), the largest RV dealership in Kentucky.  Colerain’s owners retained a significant equity position and will continue to manage the Company.

Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Colerain is a family owned and operated RV dealership, providing sales of new and used RVs, related services, parts and accessories for RV owners and camping enthusiasts.  Northside RV’s was founded by Gary Ecklar in Lexington Kentucky in 1979 and has grown to become the largest RV dealership in Kentucky.  Gary will remain with the Company as the General Manager of the Lexington location.  Together with Northside, Colerain now operates five dealership locations in contiguous metropolitan markets across three states.  Both businesses are leaders in their respective markets, offering customers a variety of towable travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers, and motorhomes from many of the top RV manufacturers, including Coachmen, Forest River, Grand Design, Jayco, Keystone, Prime Time, Starcraft, Thor, Tiffin and Winnebago, among others.  Colerain and Northside enjoy a stellar reputation with their manufacturers and retail customer base for delivering best-in-class sales and service.

"We are delighted to be partnering with Chuck Jung, Steve Jung, Wade Stepp, Gary Ecklar and the entire Colerain team to build on the terrific foundation the Jung family has created over the last 48 years, and together we plan to continue to grow Colerain by expanding to new locations and implementing their best practices across the entire organization," said Kenneth Heuer, a Principal at KCO and Colerain Board Member. “This investment fits perfectly with KCO's investment strategy of partnering with the owners of good companies to leverage their strengths and experience and to fundamentally enhance the value of their businesses.”

Chuck Jung, Executive Vice President of Colerain, said, “Building on what our father started almost 50 years ago, we have recently added several locations and believe now is the ideal time to bring in our partners at KCO, who have experience in scaling businesses like ours.”  Wade Stepp, Colerain’s Executive Vice President of Operations, stated, “The acquisition of Northside RV’s represents our latest geographic expansion, and we see many more opportunities to continue to grow both organically and through acquisitions to expand our reach and bring our strong customer service mindset to more RV-buying communities in the near future."   Gary Ecklar added, “Both Colerain and Northside share a philosophy of customer service, and I am thrilled to be joining the team and participating in a growth strategy to create one of the premier dealerships in the industry.”

Tony Castor, a KCO Partner and Chairman of Colerain, stated, "We are extremely impressed with the franchise that Colerain has built with its strong customer service culture and outstanding reputation, and we are excited to begin helping to take the Company to the next level."

Along with the equity investment by KCO, Northcreek Mezzanine, Spring Capital and Tenth Street Capital provided subordinated debt financing.

About Colerain

Founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1968 by Charles and Lolly Jung, Colerain RV is a family owned and operated RV dealership, providing sales of new and used RVs, related services, parts and accessories for RV owners and camping enthusiasts.  Colerain enjoys top-tier dealer status with numerous RV manufacturers for its consistently high sales volume and stewardship of their brands, and the Company successfully continues to expand the product lines it carries.   Colerain has also developed a stellar reputation among its retail customer base for delivering best-in-class sales and service.  During its first 40 years, Colerain operated out of one location, but as its reputation and demand for its products continued to grow, in 2007 it successfully added a second location in Dayton, Ohio.  With three of their children still active in the day-to-day operations of the business, the Company has continued its expansion and now operates five dealership locations in contiguous metropolitan markets across three states.  For more information, visit www.colerainrv.com.

About Kidd & Company, LLC

Kidd & Company, LLC (KCO) is an independent private equity firm based in Old Greenwich, CT.  KCO traces its roots to 1976 when the firm's founding partner, William Kidd, made his first private equity investment.  Today, KCO sponsors control equity investments in the lower middle market where the complementary skills and experience of the firm's partners can be applied to create significant value over time.  KCO implements fundamental strategic and operational improvements that drive above-market growth in revenue and earnings, both organically and through accretive acquisitions.  The diverse skill set of the firm’s partners allows KCO to bring management, operational, sales and marketing, corporate finance, and M&A expertise to bear to substantially increase the total value of its investments.  For more information, visit www.kiddcompany.com.