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Bank of America Business Capital provides $20 million in acquisition financing to BBI Enterprises Group


WEBWIRE

December 8, 2005– Bank of America Business Capital, one of the world’s largest asset-based lenders, announced today that it provided a $20 million asset-based loan to finance a portion of the acquisition of the assets of BBi Enterprises Group, LP, an acoustic and thermal interior automotive products manufacturer. The asset-based loan will also be used for ongoing working capital needs. Bank of America also will provide letters of credit and cash management products and services. The new company, BBi Enterprise Group, Inc., was formed by equity sponsors Wynnchurch Capital Partners and Resilience Capital Partners.

“We selected Bank of America Business Capital as our lender primarily due to their knowledge of the auto industry and ability to structure a loan that will meet our future financing needs,” said Wynnchurch Capital Partners managing director Ian Kirson. "They were also able to lend against both our U.S. and foreign assets under one borrowing base.”

"We delivered a financing solution in a very tight timeframe that enabled the company to emerge from bankruptcy as a well-capitalized business positioned for growth,” said Joyce White, president of Bank of America Business Capital. “The new asset-based facility should provide the financial flexibility to focus on growing the company’s business with both existing and new customers.”

Based in Bloomfield Hills, MI, BBi Enterprises Group, Inc. (www.bbiinc.com) is a supplier of thermal and acoustic materials for interior, under-the-hood and trunk related automobile components. The company’s product lines include engine side insulators, hood liners, floor/trunk trim, and dashboard insulators. BBi operates five manufacturing facilities located in Ontario, Michigan and Ohio.

Based in Chicago, IL, Wynnchurch Capital (www.wynnchurch.com) is a privately-owned investment firm with marketing affiliates in Detroit, Michigan and Montreal, Canada. Wynnchurch specializes in making investments in businesses that provide the opportunity for significant operating margin improvements and revenue growth. The firm targets niche manufacturing and business service companies with revenues between $50 million and $250 million for acquisition. Since the closing of its current fund in 2001, Wynnchurch Capital has acquired 16 portfolio companies, of which seven have been sold, generating top quartile returns for its investors.

Resilience Capital Partners is a private equity firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is focused on investing in underperforming and turnaround situations. The firm’s investment strategy is to acquire small to mid-size companies ($25 million to $250 million in revenues) with solid fundamental business prospects that are suffering from a cyclical industry downturn or are under-capitalized.

Bank of America Business Capital is one of the world’s largest asset-based lenders, with 21 offices serving the United States, Canada and Europe. It provides companies with senior secured loans, cash management, interest rate, precious metals and foreign exchange risk management, and a broad array of capital markets products. Visit www.bofa.com/businesscapitalnews for more information.

Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving 33 million consumer relationships with more than 5,800 retail banking offices, more than 16,700 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than twelve million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 150 countries and has relationships with 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 85 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.



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