Littlejohn Weighs Sale of Playground Equipment Maker

(Bloomberg) -- Buyout firm Littlejohn & Co. is considering a sale of PlayPower Holdings Inc. that could value the playground equipment maker at more than $800 million, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Littlejohn has hired an adviser to sell PlayPower, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. PlayPower, based in Huntersville, North Carolina, is expected to attract interest from other private equity firms, the people said.

A representative for Littlejohn, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, declined to comment. A PlayPower representative didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Littlejohn bought PlayPower in 2015 for an undisclosed amount from Apollo Investment Corp., a business development company managed by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management LLC, according to a statement at the time. Littlejohn has since backed the management team, led by Chief Executive Officer Joseph Copeland, to make acquisitions, including Playworld in 2016 and Tayplay Ltd. in February.

The firm, which was co-founded by Angus Littlejohn and Michael Klein, invested in PlayPower using capital from its fifth fund, which closed on $2 billion in 2014. The firm is currently raising its sixth pool, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kiel Porter in New York at kporter17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha

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