Crown Capital Partners invests $15M in Solo Liquor

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By Ted Liu

Crown Capital Partners Inc. has closed a $15.0 million special situations term loan with Solo Liquor Holdings Ltd., the second largest liquor retailer in Alberta and largest private liquor retailer in the province.

The agreement provides for a $15 million term loan to Solo by Crown Capital Fund IV, LP. The term loan bears a fixed interest rate of 12% per annum, matures in 36 months, and includes a bonus feature based on the growth in Solo’s enterprise value.

ATB M&A Advisory Services acted as exclusive financial advisor to Solo.

Calgary based Solo currently operates 41 retail liquor stores in high-traffic locations in Alberta, including 19 stores in Calgary, 13 in Edmonton and the remaining 9 in other communities across Alberta. Founded in 1996, the company is 100% owned by senior management.

Solo will use Crown’s capital to expand its store network over the next several years.

“Solo has built an attractive long-term growth profile using a simple strategy: open stores in high-traffic residential areas, offer a wide range of products, operate with extended hours and maintain everyday low prices,” said Chris Johnson, Crown’s President & CEO. “Solo has a low-cost, scalable and repeatable model, and we believe they can generate significant value in the coming years through a low-risk store expansion plan. We are pleased to partner with them as they embark on this next phase of growth.”

“We were attracted to Crown because they offered a non-dilutive financing alternative and have a history supporting growth businesses like ours,” said Pali Bedi, Solo’s CEO. “We look forward to working with them as we build out our network.”

photo credit: Adam Jaime via unsplash