Transom Capital Group Acquires American Driveline Systems (ADS), Parent Company of AAMCO and Cottman Transmission & Total Auto Care Franchisors

HORSHAM, PA--(Marketwired - Jan 5, 2017) - Transom Capital Group ("Transom") announced today the acquisition of American Driveline Systems (ADS) from American Capital, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACAS). ADS is the franchisor of the AAMCO and Cottman Transmission & Total Car Care brands. With nearly 700 franchisee owned and operated locations, AAMCO and Cottman Transmission are the #1 and #2 transmission repair retail chains in North America, respectively, operating in 47 states and three provinces.

"This partnership is a key element of our five-year strategic plan to build on the strong foundation of both the AAMCO and Cottman companies," said Brett Ponton, CEO of ADS. "Transom's deep experience in distributed stakeholder business models, its aggressive focus on performance and its proven ability to work with management teams were the key reasons in our selection of them as our partner for our next phase."

"With its current leadership and its network of franchisees we believe that ADS is very well positioned to capitalize on its strategic plan and achieve its future growth objectives," said Ty Schultz, Managing Partner at Transom. "Furthermore, we believe there is significant opportunity to build value at ADS and in the automotive aftermarket industry overall through improved positioning and strengthening of the AAMCO and Cottman brands."

Buy-side advisors to the transaction included: Schwartz Advisors, a leading M&A advisory and strategic planning firm for the automotive aftermarket; O'Melveny & Myers as M&A counsel, and Greenberg Traurig as debt counsel. Prudential Capital Group provided financing for the transaction, and Rothschild, Inc. served as sell-side M&A advisory.

ABOUT ADS
Founded in 1963 and headquartered in Horsham, Pa., ADS is the franchisor of AAMCO and Cottman Transmission & Total Auto Care brands. AAMCO and Cottman are the #1 and #2 transmission repair retail chains in North America, respectively, with nearly 700 franchised units in 47 states and three provinces with more than 60 percent brand awareness. The Company is also a remanufacturer of transmissions and related parts through its Global Powertrain Systems ("GPS") division, which provides franchisees a reliable and price competitive solution for their transmission needs.

ABOUT TRANSOM CAPITAL GROUP
Transom Capital Group is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm with an operational focus to private equity investing in the lower-middle-market. The Transom Capital team has a proven track record of investing in, restructuring, monitoring and growing lower-middle-market businesses for the long-term. Key to this success is its unique hands-on approach to partnership and proprietary ARMOR(SM) value creation process (Acquisition, Restructuring, Monitoring & Operations, and Return) that provide operational involvement and support to each portfolio company without overwhelming the management team. Transom Capital invests in businesses across multiple industries where its unique team of professionals can bring the experience, energy, and expertise required to maximize the value-added to each company. Transom Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with an additional office in Seattle. More information is available at www.transomcap.com.