Innovatus Capital Closes $18M Investment in Sporting Goods Manufacturer

Innovatus Capital Partners, LLC ("Innovatus") has provided an $18 million secured term loan to Kranos Corporation, doing business as Schutt Sports, Inc. ("Schutt"). Based in Litchfield, Illinois with additional operations in Connecticut, Florida, and Texas, Schutt manufactures and sells a broad portfolio of sports equipment for football, baseball, softball, lacrosse and several other sports. Schutt's products are used by athletes of all ages from youth leagues to the highest levels of competition including the National Football League and Major League Baseball. The Innovatus loan provides the company with capital to launch new products, pursue new business ventures, fund working capital growth and expand into new markets.

"CEO Robert Erb, COO Jim Stutts and their team have done an excellent job of improving the breadth and performance of the core product portfolio while simultaneously leveraging the company's IP, manufacturing capabilities and distribution channels into new segments," says Ravi Bhagavatula, partner of Innovatus. "In a market with intense competition from both established companies and new entrants, Schutt has positioned itself for future growth by investing in new processes and developing cutting-edge technologies that will continue to set them apart."

Schutt's products are developed by an in-house research and development team with significant experience in consumer product engineering. The company's flagship product, the Schutt F7 LTD is the top-performing varsity football helmet ever tested as part of the annual Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings⁽¹⁾. A portion of Innovatus' loan will be used to integrate the company's football helmet technologies into baseball, softball, lacrosse and hockey, sectors where the company sees meaningful opportunity for growth and product development.

"We are very excited about the prospects of partnering with Innovatus," says Erb. "It will allow us to expand our operations and take advantage of a fragmented market that presents a lot of undervalued and overlooked growth opportunities."

About Innovatus

Innovatus Capital Partners, LLC is a New York based registered investment adviser and portfolio management firm founded in January 2016. Innovatus adheres to a multi-strategy investment approach by targeting asset-based and cash flow opportunities in private and public entities across a broad spectrum of real and financial assets, with an emphasis on capital preservation, identifiable and durable cash flow streams and upside optionality.

Innovatus' middle market strategy seeks to invest in companies with a strong market position, tangible and identifiable value, but challenged with some form of resolvable dislocation. The middle market investment team works closely with business owners, management teams, and lenders to develop creative financial and operational solutions in both control and non-control situations. The team targets lower middle market and middle market companies with revenues of $25 - $250 million with typical deal sizes from $10 - $50 million.

⁽¹⁾ Rowson, Steve. "Varsity Football Helmet Ratings", Virginia Techtm Helmet Ratings, Virginia Tech Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/varsity-football-helmet-ratings.html