Stellus Capital Management, LLC Provides Unitranche Financing in Support of Blue Sage Capital’s Acquisition of Baker Manufacturing Company, LLC.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stellus Capital Management, LLC (“Stellus”), a leader in middle market direct lending, announced today that its affiliates provided senior debt financing and an equity co-investment to support Blue Sage Capital’s (“Blue Sage”) acquisition of Baker Manufacturing Company, LLC (“Baker” or the “Company”).

Founded in 1873 and headquartered in Evansville, WI, Baker is a vertically integrated manufacturer of water well equipment and accessories for residential, industrial, municipal, and environmental end-markets, in addition to pumps for the viscous fluid transfer market and short-run castings for general industrial markets. Baker pioneered the pitless well adapter and, over its 150-year operating history, has established itself as the provider of choice in the water well industry.

Jonathan Pearce, Partner at Blue Sage, said, “We appreciate Stellus’ thoughtfulness in providing a flexible financing structure enabling us to grow the Baker business. We look forward to a strong partnership with Stellus going forward.”

Gavin Roseman, Managing Director at Stellus, added, “We believe Baker is the gold standard in its industry and represents a strong base for continued innovation and market expansion. We are proud to support Blue Sage and look forward to building our relationship with the Blue Sage and Baker teams.”

About Stellus Capital Management

Stellus was founded in 2012 and formed in conjunction with the spin-out of the Direct Capital Unit of the D. E. Shaw group. Stellus’ senior team helped create the Direct Capital Unit in 2004 and has been investing together in the middle market for 18 years. Since 2004, the Stellus team has deployed approximately $8 billion into more than 300 middle market companies, developing a broad and deep expertise in this segment of the private investing market. Stellus currently has approximately $2.6 billion in assets under management, with offices in Houston, TX, the Washington, D.C. area, and Charlotte, NC. Learn more at www.stelluscapital.com.