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RAPAPORT... Fine jewelry distributor and manufacturer D'Annunzio Distribution Inc., based in Totowa, New Jersey, signed a two-year, $19.2 million financing deal with venture merchant banking firm Capstone Business Credit LLC.
D’Annunzio Distribution recently launched a collection of licensed character jewelry in partnership with Warner Brothers Consumer Products division and sells a wide range of jewelry specialty products with price points between $500 and $100,000. Collections include the Warner Brothers' Tweety and Tweety Platinum Blonde lines, based upon and inspired by the eponymous cartoon character; the Celebrations line; Sweets, candy inspired jewelry; Symbols (engagement rings that feature the couple’s birthstones set inside the ring;) and Corsage, a high-end line of invisible-set diamond jewelry with large distribution in Asia and Europe.
The Capstone deal represents $7.2 million of purchase order financing and $12 million in factoring. The funding will allow D’Annunzio to continue growth plans, which include additional Warner Brothers licenses, global expansion, and the 2007 launch of licensed, in-store boutiques in major markets across the United States.
“Our firm’s growth in the licensed character market far exceeded our banking relationship’s ability to fund our brands,” said Arthur D’Annunzio, CEO of D’Annunzio Distribution. The deal enables the company to design, manufacture, and distribute fine jewelry while pursuing a wider scope of opportunities for other luxury concepts and licenses.
Capstone Business Credit, a privately-held banking firm, provides structured financing to companies that are involved in the domestic and international trade of finished consumer and industrial products. These firms are in a ‘cash crunch’ due to high demand for successful product lines or are in a turnaround or bankruptcy situation.
The firm infuses working capital into businesses with typical sales of less than $100 million and provides unique structured financial products designed to provide the additional working capital needed to take advantage of incremental sales opportunities that smaller firms often lose, forfeiting growth opportunities.
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