Publicly-traded investment bank Houlihan Lokey has formed HL Finance LLC to arrange senior secured leveraged loans for private equity-backed, privately-held, and public corporations.
HL Finance will act as the arranger on syndicated loan transactions and has entered into an agreement with HPS Investment Partners, as its initial strategic investor, to participate in the transactions and provide underwriting commitments of up to $1 billion. HPS Investment Partners (formerly Highbridge Principal Strategies), is a New York-based private equity firm specializing in debt and mezzanine investments (www.hpspartners.com).
HL Finance will pursue both committed and best efforts transactions of at least $50 million for leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, dividend recapitalizations, and refinancings. Borrowers will typically have EBITDA of at least $40 million.
“The creation of a syndicated leveraged finance platform leverages our core advisory capabilities and relationships and combines them with the credit underwriting and portfolio management strengths of market-leading asset managers. Importantly, this initiative is driven by significant client demand and is consistent with our advisory business model,” said Scott Beiser, CEO of Houlihan Lokey.
HL Finance will operate as part of Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group which is led by Global Co-Heads Chris Dunlop, Anthony Martino, and Gregg Newman. As part of the new HL Finance strategy, last September the group hired two structuring and syndication professionals, Matthew Lyness and Ed Ribaudo, both former managing directors at GE Antares in New York. The group now consists of 35 professionals and last year raised approximately $12.5 billion in capital across 40 transactions.
“We are very excited about the continued growth of our Capital Markets Group and believe this new capability, combined with our deep expertise across industry sectors, substantially increases the opportunity to support our clients’ needs,” said Scott Adelson, Co-President and Co-Head of Corporate Finance.
Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group has acted as an underwriter, an agent, or a strategic advisor for a variety of transactions, ranging from leveraged loans, private mezzanine debt, and high-yield debt to structured equity, private equity, PIPEs, convertibles, and IPOs. The group has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, London, Madrid, Milan, and Sydney.
Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) is an investment bank that provides mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring, valuation, and strategic consulting services. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region (www.HL.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | July 23, 2018
Diversified Trust has held a final close of DTC Private Equity VI LP and DTC Private Equity VI-Q LP (together Fund VI) with combined capital commitments of $156 million. Fund VI is the largest fund closed to date for Diversified Trust and exceeded the target of $150 million.
“We are pleased with the results of the fund’s final close,” said Carol Womack, Principal and Head of Private Equity at Diversified Trust. “The total commitments represent what was truly a firm-wide effort to utilize private equity as a tool to create diversified investment portfolios to help our clients and employees achieve their financial objectives.” Investors in Fund VI include 200 limited partners consisting of both clients and Diversified Trust employees.
Galen Partners has acquired SMP Pharmacy Solutions, a nationwide specialty pharmacy.
“We are excited about the prospect of building upon SMP’s high-touch pharmacy platform,” said Philip Borden, Managing Director at Galen Partners. “Founder and CEO Armando Bardisa and the rest of the SMP team have done a fantastic job of positioning the company for future growth within fertility and other complex therapeutic areas such as inflammatory diseases, gastroenterology, oncology, and infectious diseases like HIV.”
Galen Partners is a healthcare-focused private equity firm that invests from $10 million to $30 million of equity in companies with at least $10 million of revenue and EBITDA between $0 and $9 million. Sectors of interest within healthcare include information technology, services, outsourcing and distribution, technology and specialty products. The firm was founded in 1990 and has invested nearly $1 billion over six funds. The buy of SMP is the second portfolio company for Galen’s sixth fund.
