The launch of Preston Hollow Capital was announced today by Jim Thompson, the Founder, President and CEO of the new investment company. Mr. Thompson is the long-time President and CEO of ORIX USA. Among the firm’s initial strategies will be fixed income, private equity, venture capital and alternative investing. Preston Hollow Capital is located in Dallas.
“Today’s global financial markets present an attractive period in which to launch a non-bank investment platform. With the new restrictive banking regulations and the acceleration of the economic recovery, the investment opportunity set is robust,” said Mr. Thompson.
Preston Hollow is launching with more than $100 million in committed capital. The firm will seek opportunities to partner with major sponsors, including institutional investors such as endowments and pension funds, as well as family offices and sovereign wealth funds.
This year, Preston Hollow Capital anticipates hiring 25 people with financial, investment and portfolio management backgrounds. “The principle that I used to guide the ORIX USA investment strategy is the same that will be employed at Preston Hollow Capital. That principle emphasized investment activity across a broadly defined opportunity set and the employment of team-based investment professionals with strong generalist skill sets. Building a talented team will be as important to the success of the new platform as it was to building ORIX USA,” said Mr. Thompson.
“We see attractive opportunities in current financial markets that are reminiscent of the beginning of the ORIX journey in 1990, when a colleague and I brought to ORIX the idea of starting a company that would securitize commercial mortgages, which at the time was a novel concept,” said Mr. Thompson. “Over the intervening 22 years, our nascent effort in securitizing commercial mortgages became the company that is today ORIX USA.”
“ORIX proved to be a good sponsor and partner. Over a 22 year period, we invested across the spectrum of fixed income credit and acquired a series of operating businesses, including Houlihan Lokey, RED Capital and Mariner Investment Group,” continued Mr. Thompson. “In 2012, in response to emerging opportunities in life sciences, we created a division, ORIX Health & Life Sciences to invest that sector.”
Mr. Thompson serves on the boards of Dallas CASA, the ORIX Foundation, and Angel Flight South Central. He also, along with his wife Angela, supports Dallas-area non-profits through the Jim & Angela Thompson Foundation, and STEM education initiatives through the Blue Sky Educational Foundation.
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-8-14
