Ares Commercial Finance Has Provided a $100 Million Senior Secured Revolving Line of Credit to Support Rawlings Sporting Goods, Inc. in its Acquisition of Easton Diamond Sports, LLC

Ares Commercial Finance (“ACF”) announced that it has provided a $100 million senior secured revolving line of credit to support the acquisition of Easton Diamond Sports, LLC (“Easton”) by Rawlings Sporting Goods, Inc. (“Rawlings”), a portfolio company of Seidler Equity Partners. Rawlings and Easton are leading global brands and manufacturers of premium baseball and softball equipment, including bats, gloves, balls, and protective gear. The transaction creates a market leader across baseball equipment product categories with exclusive relationships at the professional and amateur levels, strengthens the Rawlings and Easton brands, enhances product innovation, and enables investments to grow the game.

About Rawlings

Rawlings Sporting Goods, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and marketer of sporting goods in the United States. Since the company’s inception in 1887, Rawlings’ mission has always centered on enabling participation by developing and producing innovative, high-performance equipment and protective apparel for the professional, amateur and entry-level player. By continuously developing technologically-enhanced products, Rawlings dominates the industry with innovative new products, enabling serious athletes to reach their full potential and achieve peak performance. With revolutionary industry and product innovations such as football shoulder pads (in 1901), lightweight protective apparel, and the S100 batting helmet line, Rawlings is the authentic and global authority on protecting athletes’ bodies from head-to-toe.

Rawlings’ advisory players – from yesterday’s heroes such as Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial and Sadaharu Oh to today’s stars of Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton, Yadier Molina and Kris Bryant – embody these five core values through their play and dominance in all aspects of the game and their character and integrity off-the-field as well.  With an assortment of baseball, basketball and football game-related product lines, Rawlings is present everywhere team sports are played. Leagues and conferences of all skill levels integrate Rawlings’ unparalleled product portfolio into their sports: as the Official Baseball Supplier and Official Helmet of Major League Baseball®, the official baseball of Minor League Baseball, the official baseball and softball for the NCAA®, and the approved baseball, basketball, football and softball of the National High School Federation®.  For more information about Rawlings please visit www.rawlings.com. 

About Easton

Easton is the world's leading manufacturer of baseball and softball equipment, and the most iconic brand in these sports. Headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA, Easton Diamond Sports, LLC. manufactures bats, ball gloves, apparel, bags, batting gloves, helmets, catcher's equipment and related accessories. The company's commitment to innovation and game-changing technologies propelled Easton to the No. 1 bat position, including breakthrough technologies with aluminum and composite materials. As a result of this commitment to R&D and its storied brand heritage, Easton has long-standing relationships with Little League Baseball, USSSA Baseball & Softball, USA Baseball & Softball, hundreds of NCAA collegiate teams and numerous professional baseball and softball players. For more information, please visit www.easton.com.

About Seidler Equity Partners

Seidler Equity Partners began providing thoughtful, flexible equity capital as a small family office in the early 1990s.  Over the years, Seidler Equity Partners has become a global investment firm with a deep team of experienced, talented professionals across the US and Australia and more than $2 billion of assets under management. For more information about Seidler Equity Partners please visit www.sepfunds.com.

About Ares Commercial Finance

Ares Commercial Finance is the asset-based lending team of Ares Management Corporation. ACF is focused on providing credit facilities up to $300 million to middle market and lower-middle market, private and public companies; and addresses a wide scope of industries including manufacturing, distribution, wholesale, retail and service companies.  These facilities include revolving lines of credit and term loans, asset-based and cash flow stretch loans, and asset-backed facilities to specialty finance companies. Leveraging the breadth and experience of the Ares platform, ACF works with borrowers to deliver creative, flexible and customized financing solutions.  These financing solutions may be structured as working capital financing, bridge financing, turnaround financing, acquisition financing, debtor-in-possession financing, and special accommodation financing. For more information about Ares Commercial Finance, visit www.arescommercialfinance.com.

About Ares Management Corporation

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager operating integrated groups across Credit, Private Equity, Real Estate and Strategic Initiatives. Ares Management’s investment groups collaborate to deliver innovative investment solutions and consistent, attractive investment returns for fund investors throughout market cycles. As of December 31, 2020, Ares Management's global platform had approximately $197 billion of assets under management with more than 1,450 employees operating across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com.