Kian Capital Transaction Announcement — The Eastwood Company

Kian Capital, a private investment firm with over $425 million of capital under management, announced that it has completed a majority recapitalization of The Eastwood Company (“Eastwood” or the “Company”) in partnership with management. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Eastwood is a leading e-commerce provider of branded professional grade automotive tools, equipment and supplies to the Do-It-Yourself (“DIY”) automotive enthusiast community. The Company has an in-house research & development team with a proven ability of bringing innovative new tools and solutions to the DIY market. Eastwood’s depth of product development knowledge, combined with industry leading customer service and its thousands of “how-to” videos, provide automotive enthusiasts with a one-stop shop for all of their restoration and customization needs. Founded in 1978, Eastwood has a longstanding reputation for providing high quality products at DIY price points.

Brian Huck, Chief Executive Officer of Eastwood, said “We are very pleased to partner with Kian Capital during this exciting next phase of Eastwood’s growth. Kian Capital’s successful track record with businesses in the automotive aftermarket and strategic resources made them a great fit to help us capitalize on our many growth opportunities, and to continue bringing our customers the quality, value, service and innovation they have enjoyed for the last 41 years.”

Scott Buschmann, Partner at Kian Capital, commented “Eastwood is perfectly aligned with Kian Capital’s investment philosophy of providing first-time institutional capital to leading companies in attractive niche markets. Eastwood is at the intersection of three Kian Capital investment themes: automotive aftermarket, e-commerce business model and enthusiast customer base. We are very impressed by CEO Brian Huck and the Company’s first-class management team, and we look forward to working with them to help Eastwood accelerate its growth trajectory and achieve its full potential.”

Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company acted as financial advisor to Eastwood. Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. acted as legal advisor and Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP acted as accounting advisor to Kian Capital.